Artemis has been appointed as the new investment manager for the Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Trust.
The £117m trust’s portfolio will be run by Mark Niznik and Will Tamworth, who have co-managed the Artemis UK Smaller Companies fund for the last eight years.
The Artemis strategy is ranked top quartile over three, five and 10 years relative to its IA UK Smaller Companies peer group.
As a result of the appointment, the trust’s board has served notice to Invesco Fund Managers that it intends to terminate their appointment as investment manager.
The trust will be renamed following Artemis’s appointment, though the board said there would be no change to the trust’s investment objective, investment policy or dividend policy.
Artemis CIO Paras Anand said: “We are very grateful to the trust’s board for this opportunity. Well-run investment trusts can deliver outstanding outcomes for shareholders and are particularly suited to asset classes such as UK small caps, where the team can access a broad range of exceptional investments.”
As part of the arrangement, Artemis will charge a management fee of 0.65% of net assets up to £50m and 0.55% thereafter. Artemis will waive the first nine months of management fees following its appointment.
The agreement will come into effect in Q1 of 2025, subject to regulatory approval.