After a ‘comprehensive’ review of the company’s strategic options in pursuit of delivering improved performance and returns for shareholders, while continuing to provide an attractive yield, the board of Murray Income Trust (MUT) has entered into an agreement to appoint Artemis as the new manager.

Therefore, going forward the company will be managed by Artemis’ UK equity income team of Adrian Frost, Andy Marsh, Nick Shenton and Jamie Lindsay, which has delivered sustained top-quartile returns for over 20 years.

Price: 910.3p	NAV/share: 993.5p
Market Cap; £876m	Discount to NAV: -8.4%
Courrent Yield: 4.4%	OCF: 0.48%

Source: Murray Income. Data at 22 December 2025

Background to the proposal

The current Aberdeen team of Charles Luke, Rhona Miller and Iain Pyle has done a decent job, but over the last one, three and five years the trust’s share price total return has lagged that of the AIC’s (Association of Investment Companies) UK Equity Income sector and performance has been bottom-quartile.

Source: Trustnet. Data at 4 December 2025

In addition, the trust has traded at a persistent discount to net asset value for the last few years.

While the trend appeared to be improving over the course of 2025, the discount has recently widened again to below the four-year average (-8.4% vs -6.4%).

Source: Trustnet, Murray Income. Data at 22 December 2025

In contrast, the Murray Income board believes Artemis’ disciplined, long-term approach to value creation and focus on compounding income and capital are a strong fit for the trust’s objectives and can deliver sustainable value for shareholders in the years to come.

The investment philosophy is fundamentally bottom-up, allowing the team to focus on companies capable of generating robust and growing cash flows which have been overlooked by the market.

Designed as a core UK equity solution, it aims to achieve compelling total returns through both sustained income and capital growth.

The managers will still aim to invest up to 20% of the trust in non-UK equities and is expected to maintain the company’s 52-year unbroken record of progressive dividends and its ‘Dividend Hero’ status (https://www.theaic.co.uk/income-finder/dividend-heroes).

Performance

The Artemis Income team of Adrian Frost, Andy Marsh, Nick Shenton and Jamie Lindsay manages £5.3 billion in the firm’s leading UK Income Fund (B2PLJJ3), employing a long-term strategy with an emphasis on identifying and harnessing underappreciated free cash flow and high returns on capital as drivers of value.

With an investment horizon measured in years, the team seeks to capitalise on short-term market inefficiencies while maintaining ownership of businesses which can compound value steadily over time.

The fund’s performance is top quartile in the Investment Association’s UK Equity Income sector over 1, 3, 5 and ten years, while the net total return has exceeded the return of the FTSE All Share on a rolling five-year basis for 97% of monthly periods from inception in June 2000 to October 2025.

Source: Artemis Funds. Data at 31 October 2025

What Murray Income investors should do next

For now, we would urge shareholders to do nothing as Artemis has offered to introduce the UK equity income team with details of the presentation to be shared shortly.

Once regulatory clearance has been granted by the FCA, the change of investment manager is expected to take effect during the first quarter of 2026.

The trust will benefit from the Artemis UK sales team covering all UK wealth channels including retail, with the company making ‘a significant contribution’ to ongoing marketing costs.

The company will also waive its management fee for the first nine months, after which the annual fee will be 0.4% on the first £750 million of assets, 0.375% on the next £250 million and 0.35% on any amount exceeding £1 billion.

Given the outstanding track record of the Artemis UK equity income team and the generous terms of new management agreement, we think this a clear change for the better and Murray Income shareholders should grab the opportunity with both hands.

Murray Income Top 10 Holdings (31 October 2025)

AstraZeneca	TotalEnergies
National Grid	DBS
Unilever	Convatec
RELX	Haleon
HSBC	Reckitt Benckiser

Source: Murray Income

Artemis Income Fund Top 10 Holdings (31 October 2025)

Barclays	Aviva
Lloyds	Informa
Next	Imperial Brands
Tesco	GSK
NatWest	Pearson

Source: Artemis Funds

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