Artemis is set to launch a Sicav version of its UK Select fund aimed squarely at international investors.
The unit trust version of the strategy has been managed by Ambrose Faulks and Ed Legget since December 2015. Together, they manage approximately £2bn of assets.
The new Sicav fund will be identical to the UK unit trust, with Artemis receiving approval for the fund from Luxembourg financial regulator The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF).
Legget said: “The UK stock market has been out of favour for the last decade. At a sector level its bias towards more capital- and balance-sheet-intensive businesses has been a headwind for both earnings and valuations in a world of low interest rates and quantitative easing. This is now changing.
“On the macroeconomic front, consensus expectations for the UK economy remain on the upside, supported by latest forecasts from the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility. Modest tax cuts in the recent Budget should support the earnings of domestic-focused holdings.”
Faulks said: “Today many companies are valued at a significant discount to an already cheap market as well as to their own long-term history.
“Many of these stocks currently offer distribution yields – buyback and dividends combined – in the teens.
“Already, private equity and other companies are using M&A to capitalise on the low valuations available. As confidence improves this is a trend we would expect to accelerate.”
