Murray Income (MUT), the £883m underperforming UK equity income investment trust, has appointed Artemis to turn around the fortunes of the 102-year-old fund.

Concluding a strategic review begun in July, the board said it had picked the Artemis UK equity income team of Adrian Frost, Andy Marsh and Nick Shenton to run its portfolio.

The trio run the £5.3bn Artemis Income open-ended fund that has achieved a top quartile performance in its sector over one, three, five and ten years, Murray Income said.

Chair Peter Tait said: “The board received a large number of hugely credible proposals as part of the strategic review and after a comprehensive review of the company’s options, we are confident that Artemis’ proven UK equity income investment capability, track record, and marketing expertise will position Murray Income Trust strongly for the future. We thank Charles Luke and Aberdeen for their long-standing service and look forward to working with Artemis to deliver value for our shareholders.”

The move to Artemis is expected to take place in the first quarter of next year. The fund manager lost the mandate to run Mid Wynd International (MYI) to Lazards in 2023 but picked up Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller – since renamed Artemis Future Leaders (AFL) – at the turn of the year.

For Aberdeen it represents a further contraction in its stable of investment trusts although it was over-represented in the UK equity income sector where it also manages Aberdeen Equity Income (AEI), Dunedin Income Growth (DIG) and Shires Income (SHRS).

In January this year Abrdn China merged with Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS). Last year saw the North American Income Trust (NAIT) switch to Janus Henderson and Abrdn Property Income (API), Abrdn European Logistics Income (ASLI) and Abrdn Diversified Income & Growth (ADIG) enter managed wind-downs. In 2023 Abrdn Latin American Income also wound down and liquidated.

Our view

James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “Murray Income shareholders will probably welcome the choice of Artemis as its new manager. Adrian Frost and the rest of the Artemis team have a good reputation and it always felt a bit odd that they weren’t running a UK equity income trust. The shares are down slightly this morning, perhaps there were some investors who were hoping for a cash exit. However, I don’t feel that the changes proposed are radical enough to warrant this. The pragmatic Artemis approach of being style and benchmark agnostic should help steady the ship. For investors who think the old Murray Income focus on quality is due a re-rating, there’s still the option of switching into Finsbury Growth and Income or Dunedin Income Growth.”