Artemis has set out plans to reposition its £176m Global Select Fund as an actively managed global small-cap strategy run by its SmartGARP investment team.
The proposals will be put to existing investors at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 29 September 2025.
If approved, the fund will be renamed the Artemis SmartGARP Global Smaller Companies Fund, with its investment policy and strategy revised to focus on global small caps.
The approach will be underpinned by Artemis’ proprietary SmartGARP model, a systematic screening process designed to identify attractively valued businesses with positive growth momentum.
The revamped fund will adopt the MSCI AC World Small Cap NR Index as its benchmark and retain the objective of growing capital over a five-year period.
The number of holdings will expand from around 51 to roughly 125, broadening exposure to the small-cap universe, which spans more than 5,700 companies across 47 developed and emerging markets.
To support the transition, Artemis will reduce the fund’s annual management charge by 15 basis points for all share classes during the first year after the changes.
For the I share class, this means a cut from 0.75% to 0.60%.
The SmartGARP team – portfolio managers Philip Wolstencroft and Raheel Altaf, analyst Aalok Sathe and investment director Harry Eastwood – will take over management of the strategy.
They currently oversee four funds: the £586m SmartGARP Global Equity Fund; the £1.2bn European Equity Fund; the £1.8bn Global Emerging Markets Equity Fund; and the £986m UK Equity Fund (as at 15 August 2025).
Artemis head of investments Toby Gibb said: “We believe there is a strong opportunity here to create a fund that is distinctive, meets changing investor needs and plays to the strengths of the outstanding SmartGARP team at Artemis.
“There is a fantastic opportunity in global small-cap equities, which will benefit existing fund investors and be attractive to new ones.”
Altaf added that small caps were particularly appealing at this stage of the market cycle.
“Mega caps have dominated markets in recent years, with unusually prolonged outperformance,” he said.
“That leaves small caps attractively valued today. They’re not especially popular because people chase what’s already gone up, but over the long term, small caps significantly outperform large caps.
“Smaller companies are generally nimbler, less constrained by legacy systems and better placed to thrive in new growth areas such as AI and renewables.
“Investors want a global framework, so there is space for a smaller-cap global fund with high conviction and high growth potential, using a proven process.”
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The proposals follow a review prompted by the departure of two members of the Global Select team earlier this year.
Former head of global equities Alex Stanic left in April 2025, followed by portfolio manager Swetha Ramachandran in August.
The review concluded that client interests would be better served by a change of strategy and management team.
If approved, the changes will take effect on 6 October 2025. At that point, current lead manager Natasha Ebtehadj will leave Artemis.
Ebtehadj, who has managed the strategy since August 2025 after joining the team in 2023, was thanked for her contribution.
Gibb said: “Natasha is a talented and diligent portfolio manager who has managed the strategy during a very challenging period of market volatility. We wish her well for the future.”
The reorganisation would leave Artemis offering three distinct global equity strategies: Artemis Global Income; Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity; and Artemis SmartGARP Global Smaller Companies.
Both the Global Income and SmartGARP Global Equity funds are currently top quartile performers over multiple time periods.
