Got back in today at just below 368.5p. My broker had discount at 13.9%.
Last time I looked Artimmus unit trust was worth over £300 million. Could see some ut selling and reinvestment into Ipu, a no brainer. If discount persistent may get Rollover into ut with perhaps a 25% cash exit option near NAV. Can live in hope. Wonder if Saba Capital holds any.? |
 We should be an Artemis investment trust within the next 6 weeks and hopefully sooner. I think there will be a re-rating here with people with a proven track record in this sector in charge.
Look at that chart. It's poised to change direction. Just needs a catalyst.
Expected timing
The Company has provided notice to terminate the appointment of Invesco Fund Managers Limited as the Company's AIFM, company secretary and administrator. Subject to regulatory approval and finalising transitional arrangements, Artemis’s appointment as investment manager and AIFM is expected to become effective in Q1 2025. A further announcement will be made in due course.
Bridget Guerin, Chairman, commented:
““Having reviewed a variety of options, Artemis stood out as not only top performers but also very enthusiastic about taking over the management of IPU. To reinforce their commitment to managing the Company, both fund managers and other staff members within Artemis have agreed to invest meaningful amounts of money into the fund. The Board and Managers are excited about the prospects for UK small companies which are now trading at historically cheap levels.””;
Mark Murray, Senior Partner, Artemis, commented:
“We are delighted that the Board has appointed Artemis to manage the Company. Mark and Will have an outstanding investment proposition. Combined with Artemis’ strong brand and marketing expertise, we believe we have a compelling proposition to deliver success for the Company and its shareholders.” |
I might be wrong, but if there really is going to be peace in Ukraine, the time to invest is almost here. Who knows, the UK may even be forced to turn back to focussing on itself instead of fixating on overseas wars they have no right to participate in? |
Shareholding announcement. 1607 Capital Partners have increased their holding from 10.92% to 11.27% |
Maintained quarterly 3.85p dividend announced. Goes ex on 13th February. |
i had svm. traded at a huge discount for ages. never went anywhere. then announced a vote on an mvl and price popped up 20%. that is the one benefit from a high discount, a closure forces the discount to level out. i cannot imagine any holder not wanting the mvl to proceed.
greater demand by investors to close discounts by threats of voting to close will always focus the manager's mind. otherwise nothing will change.
learning from svm, which small trusts which are poorly traded have the biggest discounts just now? and which might have votes on winding up coming up soon? suspect the smaller company space is where they will be. |
Ok, fair enough. |
@EssentialInvestor, yes I understood his point, but why would you buy in to ITs with no discount - eg. buying HRI when Saba reduced the discount to zero or sell when a trust is at a 20% discount? He seemed to be knocking the IT sector to me. |
* point made was IF you sell later down the line and the discount is unchanged. |
FT - Opinion Financial Thinking
Do investment trust discounts even matter?
Article in today's FT. |
I've added at 373p.
Discount 16.6%
Id guess an interim dividend announcement next week. Its been 2nd Feb for the last 2 years. |
I do. To me, the whole UK Smaller space is not good value right now, but IPU comes closest and the other one on your list I am a fan of at the right price is AUSC. Pushing people with skills and savings out, replacing them with net detractors is not good economic sense. |
I think you have to look at the peer group of smaller companies trusts. IPU is definitely out on its own on cheapness.
Based on yesterdays NAVs and the current buy price then discounts look like -
IPU 15.5%
SST 13%
HSL 13%
ASL 12.5%
BRSC 11.5%
AUSC 11%
BGUK 10.5%
MTU 9% |
NAV 447p. Discount 15%
The sooner we get renamed Artemis Smaller Companies the better. |
The FTSE 100 is up 1% so far this year but the FTSE250 is down 1.9%. That's one heck of a disparity. The FTSE250 is mostly made up of domestic companies so it's clear as day Rachel from Accounts is causing no end of problems for the UK economy. |
And another Non-Exec purchase...clearly all in advance of the new manager! Will the change be the right call. Let's hope its not another Keystone! |
Non exec, Bridget Guerin, buys 6,419 shares at £3.875 |
I added another 1K at 382p half an hour before close. That's me up to 12K.
Even though the FTSE250 was up over 1% this was unchanged until just before close and you could get in at under the mid price.
This stock is very unloved just now but I think it will outperform other similar trusts next year. The change of manager to Artemis will be the game-changer. I held MAJE which was another unloved trust and they changed manager and the shares shot up 20% though not immediately. |
Could be the low point to build a holding. U never know. |
For sure, Invesco have done a bad job, when you compare the performance to something like the Aberdeen Smaller IT. I just don't see it improving until the discount falls further. |
Funnily enough I received 100% cash allocation from the ATS and ARR merger. My account was credited after the market closed last Friday. Used some of the cash to buy IPU yesterday. Having used IPU Tender proceeds to buyAATS. |
citywire article
19 Dec, 2024
Artemis wins Invesco’s underperforming UK small-cap trust
The trust’s shares soften 1% as the board announces Artemis’ surprise appointment, persuaded by lower fees, a strong track record and the promise of significant skin in the game.
By
Jeremy Gordon, Jamie Colvin
Artemis has been appointed to take over Invesco’s underperforming Perpetual UK Smaller Companies (IPU) trust in a coup for the boutique asset manager.
In an unexpected announcement, the £139m trust’s chair Bridget Guerin said the board had appointed Artemis’ Mark Niznik and Will Tamworth to take over in early 2025, persuaded by lower fees, their open-ended fund’s strong track record and their promise to invest their own money into the trust.
IPU’s shares softened 1% as the board announced that as well as waiving fees for the first nine months, Artemis will charge a management fee of 0.65% of net assets below £50m and 0.55% above, slightly below the current Invesco fee of 0.75% of gross assets, which includes borrowing.
The win marks Artemis’ return to the investment trust sector, having seen global equity fund Mid Wynd (MWY) move to Lazard last year following Simon Edelsten’s retirement and, more recently, Artemis Alpha agree a merger with Aurora to become Aurora UK Alpha (ARR).
‘Having reviewed a variety of options, Artemis stood out as not only a top performer but also very enthusiastic about taking over the management of IPU,’ Guerin said.
‘To reinforce their commitment to managing the company, both fund managers and other staff members within Artemis have agreed to invest meaningful amounts of money into the fund. The board and managers are excited about the prospects for UK small companies, which are now trading at historically cheap levels.’
This morning’s announcement is not a complete surprise. Under Invesco fund managers Jonathan Brown and Robin West, the 4.4%-yielder’s performance had slipped, with five-year shareholder returns the worst in the trust’s 11-strong UK small-cap sector, Deutsche Numis data shows. The discount has hovered around 13% over the past 12 months and closed at 16% on Wednesday.
Over the five years to yesterday, shareholders have lost 22%, even with dividends reinvested, versus an 8.6% gain for the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) benchmark. By contrast, Niznik and Tamworth’s £453m Artemis UK Smaller Companies fund returned 18%, according to Morningstar.
Despite this, there has been no obvious sign of shareholder discontent, with 93% of investors giving the thumbs-up at a continuation vote in June. Nor did the board indicate it was reconsidering Invesco as manager in recent months through a formal strategic review.
Yet the change marks a significant development for the trust at a time when the sector is seeing significant corporate activity, Peel Hunt’s Anthony Leatham said.
‘The adjusted fee terms and fee break are likely to be well received but we are not yet able to determine what the key differences are likely to be between the trust and open-ended fund portfolios going forward,’ he said.
The Artemis managers will be able to use the closed-end structure in several ways, including through gearing and investing in illiquid companies, to differentiate the trust from their open-ended fund. |
Nice close today. I saw the FTSE250 was turning blue at 4pm so I picked up another 1K at 382.8p. Excited about the change of manager. The Invesco brand is shot. |
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