The stock market's smallest and riskiest companies have always held fascination for private investors. On the premise that 'elephants don't gallop, but fleas leap,' to borrow Jim Slater's often quoted phrase, it's easier for a tiny company to double its size, and investor's money, than for a big one. Let's face it, a blue chip company worth £1 billion will find it much harder to double or even tr

We should all pay attention when the chairman of one of the world's largest food companies talks about water shortages and describes them as an even more pressing issue than climate change. Nestle (NESN:VX) chairman Peter Brabeck spoke in exactly these terms in an interview with the Financial Times in July, highlighting an issue which Geneva-based Pictet Asset Management has sought to address sinc