Timely stock bets in Temple & Webster and Supply Networks catapulted Bennelong Australia Equity Partners to the top of Mercer’s investment survey of Australian small-cap funds.

Doug Macphillamy’s Emerging Companies Fund beat 61 rival strategies tracked by Mercer to the No. 1 spot with a 41.2 per cent return before fees for the 12 months through June. That more than tripled the 12.3 per cent gain from the S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries Index.