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Artemis Income is on the defensives for now

FUND PROFILE: Artemis Income can modify its approach according to market conditions, and at present is relatively defensive
May 23, 2011

Artemis Income aims to provide an increasing income and capital growth, so positions its portfolio to provide sustainable income rather than the highest yields. Healthcare and utilities stocks that tend to pay healthy and relatively reliable dividends account for around a fifth of the fund.

166.68p

The fund proved its defensive credentials outperforming the average UK equity income fund in 2007 and 2008, and continued to stay slightly above its sector average in 2009 and 2010 when more aggressive stocks rallied. The fund's style is modified over the course of the economic and stock market cycles to optimise overall returns.

The fund is not restricted by the size of company or industry, although large caps account for more than 80 per cent of assets. It also holds a few bonds which account for less than 3 per cent of assets.

Managers take a team approach at Artemis rather than relying on one manager, and use the company's in-house stock screening programme to help make a bottom-up selection. Once a list of ideas is generated the managers research these - for example, examining free cash flow and comparing it with returns on less risky assets such as money markets and bonds.

The fund managers' own money is invested in the fund which should be an added incentive for them to perform well. Lead manager Adrian Frost has nearly 30 years' experience managing assets, and also runs the Artemis High Income Fund.

ARTEMIS INCOME Inc (8AI)

PRICE166.68pSHARPE RATIO0.03
SIZE OF FUND£3.9bn*1-YR PERFORMANCE12.78%
No OF HOLDINGS67**3-YR PERFORMANCE11.49%
SET-UP DATE6 June 20005-YR PERFORMANCE25.67%
MANAGER START DATE1/01/2002*TOTAL EXPENSE RATIO1.54%*
TURNOVER59%*YIELD4.3%
VOLATILITY4.77MINIMUM INVESTMENT£1,000
TRACKING ERROR1.82MORE DETAILSartemisonline.co.uk

Source: Investors Chronicle, *Artemis & **Morningstar.

Performance data as at 19 May 2011.

Top 10 holdings as at 29 Apr 2011

HoldingPercentage
Vodafone4.7%
GlaxoSmithKline4.4%
HSBC4.4%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B'4.1%
BP4.0%
Centrica3.7%
BG3.2%
Unilever2.9%
Novartis2.7%
AstraZeneca2.6%

Sector breakdown

SectorPercentage
Oil & gas15.0%
Healthcare12.8%
Industrial goods & services11.1%
Telecommunications10.3%
Utilities8.1%
Travel & leisure6.4%
Insurance6.3%
Food & beverage5.9%
Banks5.7%
Other18.4%