Harry Nimmo, who runs Standard Life�s £346m UK Smaller Companies fund, has achieved the longest run at the head of The Herald�s table of top-performing asset managers with Scottish investment houses.

Harry Nimmo, who runs Standard Life's £346m UK Smaller Companies fund, has achieved the longest run at the head of The Herald's table of top-performing asset managers with Scottish investment houses.

Nimmo made it six months in a row even though his UK-wide ranking dipped from second to a still-impressive fourth when investment performances for the three years to March 31 were compiled by financial publisher Citywire.

This was the longest run since The Herald began publishing the monthly table in summer 2003.

Nimmo had, when performances to February 28 were tallied, equalled the five-month run achieved in early 2004 by Hugh Young, the Aberdeen Asset Management emerging markets specialist.

Informed that he was top for a sixth consecutive month, Nimmo replied: "Fantastic."

He said: "I suppose the last month has been pretty average in terms of performance. What we have seen is the (Alternative Investment Market) has been quite strong and the oil price has been quite strong. This has meant certainly (that) funds that are heavy in both these areas are leading the way. We have got exposure to both of these markets, but not in a massive way."

Looking at the month to April 19, a period extending beyond that of the latest Citywire calculations, he said that copper producer First Quantum Minerals had been his fund's best-performing holding with a 25% leap in its share price to £36. First Quantum, which has mines in Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritania, benefited during the period from a rise in the copper price.

The second-best performer in the month to April 19 was Clapham House, the restaurant chain behind the Gourmet Burger Kitchen format which is run by David Page, who built PizzaExpress.

Nimmo said of Page: "He is the man. He is very impressive. I suppose PizzaExpress was the first real (independent) national chain. I think he will do the same with Clapham House and Gourmet Burger Kitchen. They have got 20-odd, 25 of these things (GBKs). They think there is room for 150 in the UK ...

"It is a very high-quality burger, but that is all you get. You don't get a starter or a pudding. You just get the high-quality burger for a good price, and 24 different styles."

Nimmo highlighted how well Clapham House had done for his fund in a short time. "This is a stock we bought only at the start of the year. We got about 9.5% of the company. It is up 21% (in a month). That is good."

Nimmo calculated about 9% of his fund was invested in the restaurant sector, with other big holdings including Restaurant Group, and Domino's Pizza.

He added: "(We have) big exposure to restaurant companies, electronics, software. We are pretty light in property, engineering stocks."

Among Nimmo's favourite types of stock are what he calls "UK roll-out stocks" such as Scottish five-a-side football pitch operator Goals Soccer Centres.

He said: "Also ... social housing-related stocks are a big feature of the fund."

Connaught, which refurbishes council houses, was another impressive performer in Standard Life's UK Smaller Companies fund during the month to April 19 with a 16% jump.

"I think I have avoided any major disasters," said Nimmo. "The poorest performer (in the month to April 19) is (retailer) Majestic Wine ... That is down (about) 8%."

Majestic Wine shares began a strong run in the summer of 2006 that continued until early last month.

Nimmo said he had bought more stock recently in building and property company Rok, which last September agreed to pay £31.3m in cash and shares for the construction arm of Inverness-based Tulloch.

Other recent purchases for Nimmo's fund have included shares in civil engineering company Mouchel Parkman, which is involved heavily in UK road-building programmes, and recruitment firm Robert Walters, which specialises in the accountancy sector.

Business information provider Datamonitor and Aveva, which develops engineering design software used in the construction of petrochemical and energy plants, remain among the biggest holdings in Standard Life's UK Smaller Companies fund.

Referring to the increase in the size of the fund through new investor money, Nimmo said: "There has been good, steady cash flow right throughout the period. It slowed down a wee bit when the (stock) market took a wobble (in late February and early March). It has been quite good. It has been quite steady."

Kenneth Barker, who runs the Baillie Gifford Corporate Bond and High Yield Bond funds, slipped from second to fourth place in the Scottish top flight when the latest rankings were compiled even though his UK-wide position improved slightly from 15th to 14th.

He was overtaken by Adrian Frost and Adrian Gosden, who manage Edinburgh and London-based investment boutique Artemis's Income and High Income funds. Frost and Gosden saw their UK ranking improve from 16th to 12th.

The Citywire survey focuses on open-ended funds aimed at retail investors. It does not cover managers of investment trusts or funds for which the minimum initial investment is more than £10,000. Rankings are based on three-year, risk-adjusted performance against relevant benchmarks.

Fewer than one-fifth of fund managers in the UK qualify for one of the 197 Citywire ratings.

Artemis and Standard Life Investments have been joined by Scottish Widows Investment Partnership in equal-top place in terms of number of Citywire-rated managers. They have six each.

Adam & Company's Gareth Howlett surged into the Scottish top flight with an improvement in his UK-wide ranking from 450th to 61st as his benchmark index was revised.

Alix Stewart, who manages the SWIP European Corporate Bond and Corporate Bond Plus funds, entered the top flight with a UK-wide ranking of 132nd. Citywire said Stewart now had the length of track record required for a rating.

Jeff King, who runs a raft of funds for Scottish Widows, and Martin Currie North America fund manager Thomas Walker entered the top flight with an improvement in their respective investment performances.

Vincent Devlin, who runs SWIP's Euroland, European Growth, and European funds, lasted only a month in the top flight. Promoted when investment performances to February 28 were tallied, he slipped out of the table this time with a drop in his UK-wide ranking from 138th to 199th.

Edinburgh investment house SVM's Colin McLean also lost his place, with a deterioration in his UK-wide ranking from 152nd to 202nd.

Daniel Nickols, who runs the Old Mutual UK Select Smaller Companies fund, remained top UK-wide.