It certainly would have been better to buy in to Afterpay before now, given its breathtaking share price run, says Andrew Mitchell, co-founder of Ophir Asset Management. But his small-cap and ASX-listed funds are still holding the market's hottest stock and still see upside.

If Afterpay’s $650 million placement to institutional investors in early July is anything to go by, plenty of others reckon it's not too late to get exposure to the altitudinous "buy now, pay later" sector, despite the risks of rising competition and regulation.