Watching the Super Bowl in the wee hours of the morning makes senior multi-asset investment specialist Craig Brown misty eyed for his days playing guard somewhere deep in Essex and the past. It’s also a good reminder that not all gridiron players – or investments – are built for the same jobs.

<p>Last year was bruising for most investors, but particularly so for UK mid and small-cap specialists like me. The idiosyncrasies of businesses – the stock-in-trade of small and mid-sized company investments – were cast to the wind in favour of one great concern: monetary policy.</p>