Artemis under fire for fee hike

Artemis Income has grown rapidly since it was merged with a similar ABN Amro product in September 2002, following a merger of the two fund managers. It has proved popular with investors using up their ISA allowances in the run-up to the end of the tax year on 5 April.

Philippa Gee, of independent financial adviser Torquil Clark, said the fee increase was not justified. "Initial calculations show that this could mean an additional £3.75m a year for Artemis. Surely the bigger the fund gets, the lower the charges should be?"

However, Nick Wells of Artemis said the charge was simply being brought into line with its other actively managed funds.