As a result, she said, she has a better opportunity to know a company well than do managers of funds that invest in large-cap companies.

"But large-cap companies are so widely followed, that sort of effort isn't really necessary."

So share buybacks cannot explain why fewer large-cap companies are paying dividends today than in the past.

It became a large-cap company in the 90's.

Small fry make up 60 percent of the portfolio; the balance is split between midsize and large-cap companies.

For the moment, many asset managers expect the drive into European large-cap companies to continue.

Among large-cap companies, the median price-to-book ratio is around 3.3.

So they can grow at a faster clip than many large-cap companies.

Wall Street, he said, has largely overlooked the strong earnings and fundamentals of large-cap companies lately.

And foreign dollars flowing into the market also like large-cap companies.