As a self-proclaimed small cap stock picker, Dan Veru is definitely swimming against the tide of consensus right now. Instead of chasing the same big, defensive, dividend paying, multi-national names that everyone seems to love, this chief investment officer of Palisades Capital Management is thinking smaller.

For example, despite weakness in the financial sector --which is down 25% from its 52-week high in February-- Veru sees value in Lazard (LAZ). He considers the company a pure broker that is poised to profit from an expected uptick in M&A, that also has a broader scope than its $3 billion market-cap might suggest.

"They're a global franchise. People don't realize they (Lazard) have an enormous franchise in asset management," Veru says. He's also quick to point out that "they don't risk capital with their own trades" either, something he says is "pretty important today in light of the news out of UBS (UBS)."

On the cyclical front, Veru is on board with Genesee & Wyoming (GWR) which, according to its website "owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads in the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium. Operations currently include 64 railroads organized in 10 regions, with more than 7,500 miles of owned and leased track and approximately 1,400 additional miles under track access arrangements."

Veru calls GWR a manager of global transportation assets that has large holdings in Austrlalia, "which is the gateway into China for a lot of natural resources" and is also why he considers it to be a domestic way to play emerging markets. Veru says even though the rail operator is showing deceleration, it has the strongest free cash flow of any stock his firm owns.

On the energy front, he likes Norwegian mid-cap SeaDrill (SDRL), a $10 billion company that is poised to benefit from increased deep-water drilling activity around the world. "This is a company that could surprise a lot of people," he says, pointing out that it also pays a 7% dividend. "It's just not a household name," he says. Factset Data shows that 34 analysts currently follow the stock, with 65% rating it "buy" or "overweight" with an average price target of $36.83 a share. On an EPS basis, Seadrill has missed estimates in 3 of the past 5 quarters.

Finally, Veru recommends MICROS Systems (MCRS), a $4 billion I-T system and service provider that caters to the hospitality, restaurant, and retail industries. "A bigger part of the business is really hotel and lodging. That's where they provide those big back office systems that the hotels rely on," says Veru. He also likes that the company has big recurring revenues, over $800 million in cash, and no debt. While he's not counting on a takeout bid, Veru says a "close competitor was recently acquired by NCR."

So there you have it, a few alternatives to mega cap multi-nationals to mull over. Your next big idea just might be something small.