Murray Income Trust to appoint Artemis as new fund manager

UK income trust Murray Income Trust Ord (LSE:MUT) plans to drop Aberdeen as its investment manager and replace it with the team behind Artemis Income.

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The board of the £884 million market cap trust said a recent strategic review, carried out “in pursuit of delivering improved performance and returns for shareholders”, had resulted in the appointment of the Artemis team, which consists of Andy Marsh, Nick Shenton and Adrian Frost.

The change should take effect in the first quarter of 2026, subject to “necessary approvals and the finalisation of transitional arrangements”. The planned manager change requires shareholder approval.

The trust, which targets a high and growing income combined with capital growth, has struggled in recent years. The shares have delivered a 26.9% total return over the five years to 19 November 2025, making Murray Income one of the worst performers among investment trusts in the UK Equity Income sector. Charles Luke has managed the trust for nearly 20 years.

UK equities have roared back to life over that period, with the FTSE All-Share returning 70.9% and the FTSE 100 returning 80.4%.

Competition has more generally heated up among UK income funds: top performer Temple Bar Ord (LSE:TMPL) has returned 134.7% over this period, with Law Debenture Corporation Ord (LSE:LWDB) returning just shy of 100%. Edinburgh Investment Ord (LSE:EDIN) and Aberdeen Equity Income Trust (LSE:AEI) have made more than 80% in terms of share price total returns.

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The board said it had chosen the Artemis team because it had delivered “sustained top quartile returns for over 20 years”.

Artemis Income, which returned 78.1% over the period referenced above, targets companies that can consistently generate high levels of cash from their operations and pay reliable dividends.

Top positions in the fund include Aviva (LSE:AV.), Barclays (LSE:BARC), Tesco (LSE:TSCO), Lloyds Banking Group (LSE:LLOY), Imperial Brands (LSE:IMB) and NatWest Group (LSE:NWG). Each of these names accounts for more than 4% of the portfolio. On a sector basis, it has big allocations to financials and consumer discretionary shares. The fund has a trailing 12-month dividend yield of 3.3%.

Murray Income’s investment objective will not change because of the switch and nor will its policy on gearing, its reference index, its dividend or share buybacks. It will look to maintain its dividend hero status via consistent increases to its payouts. The trust, founded in 1923, has increased dividends for 52 consecutive years.

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Artemis will receive an annual management fee of 0.4% a year on the first £750 million of assets, 0.375% on the next £250 million and 0.35% above that threshold. Fees will be charged on the lower of market capitalisation or net assets. However, it will waive its management fee for nine months, as a way of contributing to the costs of changing manager.

With such a big difference between the sector’s best and worst performers and some trusts appearing to lack in scale, more consolidation could still be due here. It’s worth noting that two trusts, Chelverton UK Dividend Trust Ord (LSE:SDV) and BlackRock Income and Growth Ord (LSE:BRIG), each have a market cap of less than £100 million.

In March, Artemis won the mandate to manage the Invesco UK Smaller Companies trust, since renamed the Artemis UK Future Leaders Ord (LSE:AFL).