The William Blair Global Small Cap Growth Fund will be managed by Andrew Flynn and Matthew Litfin, using an active, high-conviction approach. The duo are tasked with delivering alpha through investing in companies characterized by organic value creation, consistent earnings growth, and high returns on capital and assets.

They will be supported by senior advisors Jeffrey Urbina, with responsibility for portfolio strategy, and Karl Brewer, with strategic and stock-specific responsibilities.

The approach will be unconstrained by geography or sector and will invest in 80 to 100 companies with a market capitalization of under $5 billion each. It will be benchmarked against the MSCI AC World Small Cap Index.

"We believe the Global Small Cap Growth Fund, which builds on the expertise of our small-cap and global strategies, will mirror the success of our other offerings," said Michelle Seitz, head of William Blair Investment Management.

William Blair is an employee-owned firm with offices in 12 cities including Chicago, London, New York, Shanghai and Zurich.