2017 was an outstanding year for stock markets, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly given the levels of pessimism about the state of the world a year ago. But such views turned out to be well off the mark, as rising corporate earnings and economic growth pushed major global indices to all-time highs. While the UK small cap indices were unable to scale new peaks in 2017, the mood of general investor bullishness did not elude them, with annual gains of well over 20%. This was reflected in a solid yea
