Artemis have taken over as investment manager to the Invesco UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust.
The trust will shortly be renamed: Artemis UK Future Leaders plc. The ticker will change to AFL.
It will be managed by Mark Niznik and Will Tamworth who have worked together at Artemis for nearly ten years and who jointly manage the Artemis UK Smaller Companies Fund, an open-ended unit trust. Since 2015 when Mark and Will have been manging the fund together, it has delivered top quartile performance and has outperformed the index by 2.2% per year*.
The pair will deploy the same proven investment process. They take a long-term approach, employ a strict valuation discipline and focus on cash flows. They favour companies that have market leading positions or can establish leading positions in the future.
The trust will continue to invest in UK smaller companies and its benchmark (the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies index ex-IT plus AIM) will remain unchanged.
Niznik commented: “Will and I are really excited about managing Artemis Future Leaders. We have both committed to the Board that we will make substantial personal investments in the company ensuring that our interests are aligned with the end shareholders’ and reflecting our confidence in both the long-term prospects and the opportunity today. The case for the long-term small cap premium of 3 per cent per annum outperformance relative to large cap companies is stronger than ever.”
Tamworth added: “History shows that buying UK small caps when sentiment is weak has delivered strong returns and we are excited about the opportunities we see today. The smaller companies’ universe is home to a wide range of market-leading businesses that we believe are trading at attractive valuations for investors with a medium-to-long-term mindset. A closed-ended investment trust is the ideal vehicle to access companies slightly further down the market cap spectrum.”
Artemis will charge a management fee of 0.65% of net assets up to £50 million and 0.55% thereafter. This compares to the fee of 0.75% of gross assets previously paid by the trust. Artemis has also agreed to waive the first nine months of management fees post appointment (to December 2025).
At the same time as the investment management contract has moved to Artemis, the Trust’s depositary and administration service provider has changed from Bank of New York to Northern Trust.
* Past performance is not a guide to the future. Source: Lipper Limited. Artemis UK Smaller Companies I accumulation units in GBP from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2024 (data prior to 1 September 2010 reflects class R accumulation units in GBP). All figures show total returns with dividends and/or income reinvested, net of ongoing charges and portfolio costs. Performance does not take account of any costs incurred when investors buy or sell the fund. This class may have charges or a hedging approach different from those in the IA sector benchmark. Peer group is IA UK Smaller Companies.
