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Should you stick or twist on Mid Wynd International IT as Edelsten announces retirement?

27 February 2023

Veteran investor Simon Edelsten is to step down at the end of the year.

By Jonathan Jones,

Editor, Trustnet

Mid Wynd International manager and Artemis head of global equities Simon Edelsten is to retire at the end of the year, with Alex Stanic brought in to replace the veteran stockpicker.

Edelsten, who also manages the Artemis Global Select fund, will remain with the firm until the of 2023, with his replacement Stanic coming over from JP Morgan Asset Management on 1 March.

Alex Illingworth – who co-manages Mid Wynd International and Artemis Global Select with Edelsten – will also leave Artemis at the end of this month.

The £453m trust has been the fourth best performer in the IT Global sector since the pair took charge in 2014, making 180% for investors.

Performance of trust vs sector and MSCI World since managers start

 

Source: FE Analytics

Meanwhile, the £381m Artemis Global Select fund has made 252.1% since the pair launched it in 2011, besting the MSCI AC World index (224.5%) and IA Global sector (182.5%).

Stanic said he and Edelsten have “very similar investment styles” and “like many of the same stocks”. The pair will work together until the latter retires to ensure an orderly handover.

James Carthew, head of investment companies at QuotedData, said investors will “have to take the board’s word for it” that there will be no significant change to the investment strategy once Stanic is at the helm.

“Given the wholesale change in the line-up, we would understand why investors would want to keep any position in the fund under review,” he said.

“Ahead of the news, the trust was trading on one of the narrowest discounts in the global sector. It may be that we see some modest widening of this in coming days.”

However, Chris Salih, investment trust research analyst at FundCalibre, said the fund would continue to hold the ratings firm’s ‘Elite’ status.

“Whilst it is a shame to see Simon depart the franchise after such an excellent career, Artemis has brought in an experienced name in Alex Stanic, who has produced strong returns in his time as manager of the JPM Global Unconstrained Equity fund,” he said.

The analyst pointed to the 10-month handover period as “reassurance” that both the fund and the trust will be similarly managed. The main difference, he argued, was that Stanic tends to invest with lower turnover.

Another shift may be the change in research team. As head of global equities, Stanic may look to add further resources to the team.

“While the regional teams at Artemis tend to be autonomous in nature, Stanic’s appointment to the global team gives them the opportunity to make a greater collegiate use of the geographical teams already in place – a welcome move given the strength they have within the likes of the UK and US franchises. However, I should point out the team will have no obligation to buy their stocks,” he said.

“We look forward to speaking to Stanic and the new team to understand their process in more detail and any potential changes they may look to make in the future. Given the long handover period the trust will retain its Elite Rating.”

 

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Data provided by FE fundinfo. Care has been taken to ensure that the information is correct, but FE fundinfo neither warrants, represents nor guarantees the contents of information, nor does it accept any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions or any inconsistencies herein. Past performance does not predict future performance, it should not be the main or sole reason for making an investment decision. The value of investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise.