Artemis launches consumer brands fund for ex-GAM luxury equities manager
Swetha Ramachandran (pictured) is part of the team managing the Artemis Global Select fund.
The leading consumer brands fund will aim to tap into the investment potential of changing demands for leading brands, with a concentrated portfolio of 25 to 35 stocks selected by Ramachandran, who joined Artemis in September from GAM.
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«Consumers are changing geographically as well as generationally, with millennials, Gen Z and now Gen Alpha all having distinct preferences. The centre of consumer gravity is shifting eastwards with the expansion of the Asian middle class,» Ramachandran said.
The manager said the growing role of millennial and Gen Z consumers is also making the boundaries between «luxury» and «premium» brands more fluid, as the definition of ‘brand' is moving away from being «transaction-led» to more «experience-led» across all generations.
«For instance, older consumers with greater disposable income are increasingly seeking to ‘premiumise' their consumption habits — especially in travel and health and wellness,» she said.
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Alex Stanic, head of global equities at Artemis, added: «We believe this proposed new strategy brings something differentiated for fund selectors, asset allocators and private investors and enables them to tap into Swetha's knowledge of this exciting space and her understanding of how it is evolving.
»Importantly, leading consumer brands demonstrate many of the key characteristics that we look for in companies more generally. They have real pricing power, even in more challenged economic times, and genuine barriers to entry — often built up over very long periods of time."
The fund is subject to
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