Artemis has taken over as the investment manager of the Invesco UK Smaller Companies trust, to be renamed Artemis UK Future Leaders.
The trust will be managed by Mark Niznik and Will Tamworth, who also manage the Artemis UK Smaller Companies fund. Since the duo began management in 2015, it has outperformed the index by 2.2% per year.
The Future Leaders trust will be managed with the same investment process, focussed on long-term holdings with strong valuation discipline.
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“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,” Niznik said.
“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.”
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Currently, the trust trades at a 16.55% discount and the share price total return has decreased by 12.9% in the past year, according to the Association of Investment Companies. The sector has gained 1.3% in the past year.
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.”
