On 20^th June 2016, Artemis announced that Adrian Gosden, one of the co-managers of the Artemis Income fund and the Artemis High Income fund, is leaving the firm this month. 

Following this news, we are retaining the Artemis Income fund on our Established list and the Artemis High Income fund on our Recommended list.

Artemis Income

Artemis Income continues to be managed by existing co-managers, Adrian Frost and Nick Shenton.

Adrian Frost is a very experienced investor, who began his career in 1983.  He joined Artemis in December 2001 to manage the income funds.  Mr Frost is now considering the additional team resources that are required, as well as thinking ahead to the future succession plan for the fund.  In the meantime, Mr Frost has committed to remain as the fund’s manager for at least three more years.

Nick Shenton joined the firm in 2012 to work with the UK Income team and in July 2014, he was appointed as a co-manager on the income mandates.

Under Adrian Frost’s continued leadership, there will be no change to the philosophy or process that is applied to the fund.  The fund is located in the IA UK Equity Income sector and it has a large-cap bias, with the managers deploying a “growth at the right price” approach to seeking out an attractive total return.

Given its large size (£6.5bn as at 31/5/16), it currently features on our Established list.

Artemis High Income

Artemis High Income was formerly managed by Alex Ralph and Adrian Gosden.  Following the news of Mr Gosden’s departure, the fund will be managed by Alex Ralph and Adrian Frost.

The fund is located in the IA £ Strategic Bond sector and it is a mixed fund of fixed income and equities, featuring at least 80% in bonds. Ms Ralph is responsible for the fixed income portion of the portfolio and Adrian Frost is now responsible for the equity portion.

There is no change to the philosophy or the process as a result of this management change.  The managers’ primary focus remains the delivery of income through a portfolio that is strongly biased towards higher yielding bonds.

In summary, while Adrian Gosden’s departure is clearly a significant development, the continuity in the management of both funds, the experience of the managers and their access to the broader UK equity and fixed income teams means that we are comfortable retaining Artemis Income and Artemis High Income on our fund lists.

At the present time, we feature 109 funds on our Recommended list, 19 funds on our Established list and 6 funds on our Positive Watch list. Please see our “Our Fund Lists” section within the “People & Process” area of our website for more information.  For more information about our featured funds in the IA Equity Income sector and the IA £ Strategic Bond sector, please refer to the IA Overviews section of The Adviser Centre.