How the ASX's two-speed market punished small-cap fundies

Even after a better-than-expected earnings season and the benchmark ASX 200 index resetting a record high last month, many active fund managers were caught on the wrong side of a trend building beneath the surface of the market last financial year. Among the more high profile casualties was the $1.4 billion listed investment company WAM Capital, which suffered its worst-ever annual performance in FY26. Chairman Geoff Wilson told Capital Brief it's been a 'really challenging time' for smaller industrial companies that are 'plugged into the domestic economy.'