Artemis announces plans to offer global small-cap strategy
Our press enquiries team
Artemis has announced plans to offer an actively managed global small-cap strategy run by its SmartGARP investment team.
Subject to existing investors approving the proposed changes at an Extraordinary General Meeting (to be held on 29 September 2025), the Artemis Global Select Fund will be renamed as the Artemis SmartGARP Global Smaller Companies Fund.
The fund’s investment policy and strategy will be changed to reflect its new focus on global smaller companies and the use of Artemis’ proprietary SmartGARP tool as the foundation of its investment process. The SmartGARP model is a systematic screening process which identifies attractively valued companies with positive growth momentum.
The Artemis SmartGARP Global Smaller Companies Fund will have the MSCI AC World Small Cap NR Index as its benchmark and retain the objective of growing capital over a five-year period.
If the changes are approved, there will also be a reduction of 15 basis points in the Annual Management Charge (AMC) for all shares classes which will remain in place for the first 12 months after the changes take effect. For the I share class this will mean a reduction from 0.75% to 0.60%.
Artemis Head of Investments Toby Gibb said: “We believe there is a strong opportunity here to create a fund that is distinctive, meets changing investor needs, plays to the strengths of the outstanding SmartGARP team at Artemis and provides exposure to what we believe is a fantastic opportunity in global small-cap equities.”
If the changes are approved the fund will be run by the SmartGARP team, made up of portfolio managers Philip Wolstencroft and Raheel Altaf, as well as analyst Aalok Sathe and investment director Harry Eastwood.
There are currently four funds in the SmartGARP family – the £586m Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity Fund, the £1.2bn Artemis SmartGARP European Equity Fund, the £1.8bn Artemis SmartGARP Global Emerging Markets Equity Fund and the £986m Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity Fund (as at 15 August 2025).
Raheel Altaf said: “The SmartGARP model identifies many interesting smaller company opportunities and now feels like a good time to be launching a product that focuses more closely on just this space. We've had a unique period where mega-caps have dominated markets and companies have almost operated like monopolies. The large-cap outperformance has been unusually prolonged. It means that small-caps tend to be attractively valued today. They’re not particularly popular, because people chase things that have gone up the most. But over the very long-term, small-caps have significantly outperformed large-caps1. So, there's an investment opportunity in terms of where we are in the market cycle.
“I think this adds something useful to the mix for investors. Smaller companies in general are nimbler and less held back by legacy systems, so they're often able to thrive in new growth areas better than giant multinationals. You go to small companies for innovation, for new technologies and for new growth areas, like AI and renewables.
“Investors want a global framework. So, there is a space for a smaller-cap global fund with high conviction and high growth potential, using a proven process.”
The number of holdings will rise from the current level of around 51 to approximately 125.
The MSCI AC World Small Cap NR Index has around 5,730 constituents split between 23 Developed countries and 24 Emerging nations. The index’s average market cap was $1.8 billion as at 31 July 2025, according to MSCI.
The proposals to change the £176m Artemis Global Select Fund are being made following the departure of two of the Global Select investment team, Alex Stanic (April 2025) and Swetha Ramachandran (August 2025). This prompted a formal review of the existing capabilities alongside client demand. The decision was reached that client interests would be better served through a change of strategy and hence also management team and process.
If they are approved by the fund’s investors at the EGM, the changes to the fund will take effect on 6 October 2025. On completion the existing lead manager of Artemis Global Select, Natasha Ebtehadj, will leave the business.
Natasha has been lead manager since 6 August 2025 and worked on the strategy since October 2023 with the then head of Global Equities, Alex Stanic, and Swetha Ramachandran.
Gibb said: “Natasha is a talented and diligent portfolio manager who has managed the strategy during a very challenging period of market volatility. We wish her well for the future.”
If approved, the reorganisation will leave Artemis with three highly differentiated global equity strategies to offer its clients:
- Artemis Global Income
- Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity
- Artemis SmartGARP Global Smaller Companies
The Artemis Global Income Fund and the Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity Fund are both top quartile over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years to 31 July 2025, according to Lipper Limited2. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
Notes and references
1The MSCI ACWI Small Cap index has underperformed the MSCI ACWI IMI index (which includes large, mid and small-caps) over 10 years to 31 July 2025 but has outperformed since 29 December 2000 on an annualized basis in dollar terms, according to MSCI factsheet data.
2Performance refers to total returns net of fees with dividends reinvested, for the Artemis Global Income Fund’s I Inc share class and the Artemis SmartGARP Global Equity Fund’s I Acc share class, mid to mid in sterling.
Risks specific to Artemis SmartGARP Global Smaller Companies Fund
- Market volatility risk The value of the fund and any income from it can fall or rise because of movements in stockmarkets, currencies and interest rates, each of which can move irrationally and be affected unpredictably by diverse factors, including political and economic events.
- Currency risk The fund’s assets may be priced in currencies other than the fund base currency. Changes in currency exchange rates can therefore affect the fund's value.
- Charges from capital risk Where charges are taken wholly or partly out of a fund's capital, distributable income may be increased at the expense of capital, which may constrain or erode capital growth.
- Emerging markets risk Compared to more established economies, investments in emerging markets may be subject to greater volatility due to differences in generally accepted accounting principles, less governed standards or from economic or political instability. Under certain market conditions assets may be difficult to sell.
- Smaller companies risk Investing in small companies can involve more risk than investing in larger, more established companies. Shares in smaller companies may not be as easy to sell, which can cause difficulty in valuing those shares.
