Subject to regulatory approval, the fund will be based in Luxembourg and run by Catherine Stanley, who runs the £92.5m F&C UK Smaller Companies fund.
F&C said the fund would aim to outperform the MSCI World Small Cap index on a rolling three-year basis.
Martin Smith, head of product management at F&C, said: “Against a supportive economic backdrop, and with IPO activity in the small cap sector intensifying, the fund will provide simple and cost-effective one-stop access to what we believe to be the very best smaller companies drawn from across the world’s major developed markets.”
F&C also runs the £350m F&C Global Smaller Companies investment trust, a mix of direct stock investments and holdings in other smaller companies funds, which is managed by Peter Ewins.
