Artemis UK Future Leaders plc (AFL)
Our proven UK smaller companies approach in an investment trust structure, seeking UK smaller companies at attractive valuations with market leading positions.
FOR PROFESSIONAL AND/OR QUALIFIED INVESTORS ONLY. NOT FOR USE WITH OR BY PRIVATE INVESTORS. This is a marketing communication. Before making any final investment decisions, and to understand the investment risks involved, refer to the Investor Disclosure Document, Articles of Association and KID, available in English, from www.artemisfunds.com or www.fundinfo.com. CAPITAL AT RISK. All financial investments involve taking risk and the value of your investment may go down as well as up. This means your investment is not guaranteed and you may not get back as much as you put in. Any income from the investment is also likely to vary and cannot be guaranteed.
About the trust
Artemis UK Future Leaders plc is a closed-ended investment trust. Artemis became the appointed manager of the trust on 10 March 2025 and the name has been changed from Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Trust plc. The ticker for Artemis Future Leaders is AFL. For the latest share price and performance information please visit the trust’s London Stock Exchange page.
The trust seeks to invest in UK smaller companies that occupy market-leading positions or that we believe can establish leading positions in the future. The managers Mark Niznik and Will Tamworth take a long-term approach in actively managing the trust’s investments. They use a highly disciplined approach to analysing the value of companies and the strength of their cash flows and profitability.
Mark and Will have worked together at Artemis for nearly ten years. They jointly manage the Artemis UK Smaller Companies Fund, an open-ended fund. The trust is managed using the same fundamental approach to company research and valuation. However, its closed-end structure means Mark and Will are now able to hunt for opportunities amongst their existing universe of medium and small companies and further down the market cap spectrum.
About the managers
Mark Niznik
Mark has managed Artemis‘ ‘UK smaller companies‘ strategy since joining the firm in 2007. He started his investment career in 1985 and has worked at firms including Invesco Perpetual and Standard Life.
William Tamworth
William works alongside Mark in managing Artemis’ ‘UK smaller companies’ strategy. Prior to joining Artemis in 2015, William worked at Liberum and Citigroup where he analysed small and mid-cap companies.
Investment trust overview
Identifying Future Leaders
Key Facts
For the latest price and performance information please visit the trust’s London Stock Exchange page.
1The Manager seeks to outperform the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (excluding Investment Companies) Index. As a result, the Manager’s approach can, and often does, result in significant overweight or underweight positions in individual stocks or sectors compared with the benchmark.
2The investment trust was launched in March 1988 (formerly known as Berry Starquest plc). Perpetual took over the management of the investment trust on 1 March 1994. On 13 June 2002, the investment trust's name changed to Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc. Artemis assumed management of the trust on 10 March 2025.
Investment objective
- The Company aims to achieve long-term total returns for shareholders primarily by actively investing in a broad cross-section of small to medium sized UK quoted companies.
Investment risks
- Market volatility risk: The value of the trust 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 trust’s assets may be priced in currencies other than the trust base currency. Changes in currency exchange rates can therefore affect the trust's value.
- 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.
- Income risk: Although the trust aims to pay a regular income, the payment of income and its level is not guaranteed.
- Charges from capital risk: Where charges are taken wholly or partly out of a trust's capital, distributable income may be increased at the expense of capital, which may constrain or erode capital growth.
- Counterparty risk: Investments such as derivatives are made using financial contracts with third parties. Those third parties may fail to meet their obligations to the trust due to events beyond the trust's control. The trust's value could fall because of loss of monies owed by the counterparty and/or the cost of replacement financial contracts.
- Leverage risk: The trust may operate with a significant amount of leverage. Leverage occurs when the economic exposure created by the use of derivatives is greater than the amount invested. A leveraged portfolio may result in large fluctuations in its value and therefore entails a high degree of risk including the risk that losses may be substantial.
Investment in a trust concerns the acquisition of units/shares in the trust and not in the underlying assets of the trust.
Reference to specific shares or companies should not be taken as advice or a recommendation to invest in them.
Key documents from our literature library
Fund factsheet
Key information document
Annual financial reports
- 2025 Annual Financial Report
- 2024 Annual Financial Report
- 2023 Annual Financial Report
- 2022 Annual Financial Report
- 2021 Annual Financial Report
- 2020 Annual Financial Report
- 2019 Annual Financial Report
- 2018 Annual Financial Report
- 2017 Annual Financial Report
- 2016 Annual Financial Report
- 2015 Annual Financial Report
Interim financial reports
Other documents
- 2024 AGM Proxy Voting
- 2025 AGM Proxy Voting Form
- Articles of Association
- Audit Committee Terms of Reference
- Certificate of Incorporation on Change of Name
- Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP) Plan
- Investor Disclosure Document
- Management Engagement Committee Terms of Reference
- Marketing Committee Terms of Reference
- Nomination Committee Terms of Reference
- Privacy Notice
- Schedule of Matters Reserved for the Board
- TCFD Portfolio Report
Board of directors
Bridget Guerin
Chair
Joined Board: May 2018
Over 33 years in the investment industry, former marketing director at Ivory & Sime and Schroders, managed MD at Matrix Money Management Ltd.
Mike Prentis
Director
Joined Board: February 2021
33 years in UK small-cap investing, former BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust manager, chartered accountant.
Graham Paterson
Director
Joined Board: October 2019
20 years in private equity, co-founded SL Capital Partners and TopQ Software, chartered accountant, Audit Committee Chair since 2020.
Simon Longfellow
Director
Joined Board: July 2023
Co-founded Steps to Investing, runs Neo Strategic Marketing, former head of investment trust marketing at Janus Henderson.
Important information
FOR PROFESSIONAL AND/OR QUALIFIED INVESTORS ONLY. NOT FOR USE WITH OR BY PRIVATE INVESTORS. This is a marketing communication. Before making any final investment decisions, and to understand the investment risks involved, refer to the Investor Disclosure Document, Articles of Association and KID, available in English, from www.artemisfunds.com or www.fundinfo.com. CAPITAL AT RISK. All financial investments involve taking risk and the value of your investment may go down as well as up. This means your investment is not guaranteed and you may not get back as much as you put in. Any income from the investment is also likely to vary and cannot be guaranteed.
Any research and analysis in this communication has been obtained by Artemis for its own use. Although this communication is based on sources of information that Artemis believes to be reliable, no guarantee is given as to its accuracy or completeness.
Any statements are based on Artemis’ current opinions and are subject to change without notice. They are not intended to provide investment advice and should not be construed as a recommendation.