The Artemis Income fund remains an outstanding choice in the UK equity-income sector.
The fund features a distinguished pairing in Adrian Frost and Adrian Gosden, who have worked together here since Oct 2003, although Frost took charge here in Jan 2002. The managers share an impressive amount of industry experience and also draw upon the expertise of their fellow Artemis managers. The resources have been bolstered since Nick Shenton joined in mid-2012 to provide dedicated analytical support.
The managers are disciplined in applying a process that is proven over the long term. They seek cash-generative companies by applying cash flow and dividend screens to their equity universe with the help of SmartGARP, Artemis' proprietary stock-screening model. They believe that focusing on free cash flow yield is the equivalent of valuing the company as if it were a bond.
They subsequently compare the free cash flow yield with less risky rates of return – like money markets and bonds – and the focus on free cash flow gives greater flexibility than yield alone. There is also a more qualitative element to their strategy in assessing management impact and their ability to allocate capital efficiently.
Once the managers have narrowed their opportunity set, they focus on price/free cash flow as a valuation metric, taking into account both the level and direction of cash flow and its sustainability. We believe the strategy offers a well-thought-out process well-suited to primarily generating a desired income for investors.
Their flexible strategy has provided investors with strong returns and decent yields over the long term. Since the beginning of 2002 to the end of Feb 2014, the fund gained an annualised 9.07%.
Those returns put the fund ahead of the average peer in the Morningstar UK Equity Income Category and the FTSE All-Share benchmark by 112 and 234 basis points per annum. We believe the pairing of experienced managers Frost and Gosden combined with their robust strategy gives the fund a strong chance of continuing its success. It retains its Gold Rating.