Artemis management have expressed their disappointment at the loss of a £400mn investment mandate following the retirement of one of its managers.
The Mid Wynd investment trust had been run by Artemis since 2014, but this has now changed after its lead fund manager Simon Edelsten announced his retirement in February 2023, with co-manager, Alex Illingworth, having left on the same day.
That prompted the investment trust’s board to announce a review and a search for potential alternative fund managers.
In a stock exchange announcement this week (27 June) the board of the trust confirmed it has appointed Lazard to run the trust.
Mark Murray, senior partner at Artemis, said: “We are very proud that since 2014 our team has produced an annualised net return of 12.4 per cent for Mid Wynd’s shareholders, compared to the index return of 10.7 per cent.
"In that time we have seen company assets grow from £68mn to £449mn. We are naturally disappointed that the board has chosen to appoint a new investment manager. Artemis is investing considerably in expanding its global equity capabilities under the leadership of Alex Stanić.”
The board of Mid Wynd had hired Barnett Waddingham to run the process of reviewing the fund management arrangements.
A representative of Lazard said its Global Equity Quality Growth team will run the trust. The lead manager is Louis Florentin-Lee.
Jeremy Taylor, chief executive of Lazard Asset Management, said: “We are honoured to have been appointed as Mid Wynd's investment manager. We share a commitment to providing consistently excellent returns for our clients. Investing in companies with high financial productivity that trade at attractive valuations is a hallmark of our investment approach.
"We are pleased to be able to bring this to Mid Wynd's extensive shareholder base and look forward to partnering with Mid Wynd's Board with the aim to deliver strong investment results and increase shareholder value."
david.thorpe@ft.com
