Artemis investors have approved plans to change the name of one of the firms actively managed funds.
At a meeting on Tuesday (March 5) investors unanimously backed proposals from the firm to change the name of the Artemis Target Return Bond fund.
From March 18 it will be known as Artemis Short-Duration Strategic Bond fund.
As well as changing the name, the fund will officially change its investment objective and benchmark.
The original objective was for a return of at least 2.5 per cent above the Bank of England base rate, after fees, over a three year period.
Stephen Snowden, Artemis’ head of fixed income, said: “The fund was originally designed to be a low-risk strategy, with limited duration of four years and under.
"With base rates where they are now, to achieve a positive return of at least 2.5 per cent above the Bank of England base rate we would need to take a much higher level of risk, which is not appropriate given why clients chose to invest in the fund.
“We believe that clients are now looking for more flexible short-duration exposure and opportunities across a range of fixed income assets.”
The updated objective will be to generate a return that exceeds the Markit iBoxx 1-5 year GDP Collateralised and Corporates Index, after fees.
The firm said it will do this by investing in a portfolio of global debt and debt-related securities.
Greg Jones, head of distribution at Artemis, added: “We are very pleased that investors voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed changes which, we believe, more clearly represent the fund’s investment strategy of allocating across fixed income sectors to deliver attractive risk adjusted returns for our clients.”
The fund was launched in December 2019, and is jointly managed by Stephen Snowden, Liam O’Donnell and Jack Holmes.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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