Mr Prentis, who left having delivered 16 of those benchmark-beating years and with the trust on track for its 17th, was always going to be a hard act to follow.
At the time of his departure, the record of Mr Arnold, who had worked alongside his predecessor for 14 years, gave Questor enough reason to advise readers to continue to hold, albeit with a watchful eye. Now that the trust’s extraordinary run is over, further review is needed.
Despite the setback, readers who followed Questor into BlackRock Smaller Companies have enjoyed a substantial gain on their investment. The shares are up by 70pc, including dividends, since our tip, well ahead of the 13pc from the London stock market and the 37pc from the Numis benchmark.