About Us

Armytage Private Proprietary Limited (Armytage) is a boutique investment management firm majority owned by members of its investment team and key executives. Armytage specialises in the active management of Australian equity portfolios and currently manages strategies on behalf of a wide range of investors including charitable trusts, corporations, superannuation funds, family trusts and individuals. Armytage is able to offer its investment capabilities through a spectrum of core Australian equity solutions:

  • The Armytage Australian Equity Income Fund;

  • Armytage Micro Cap Activist Fund; and

  • The Armytage Individually Managed Account (IMA) service for wholesale investors

Armytage also conducts regular information sessions for its strategic partners and wholesale clients. This involves regular macro reporting and live derivative trading sessions. Please contact us for more details.

Armytage Background & History

Armytage was established in 1995 as one of the first true IMA managers in Australia with the firm’s founding service being its successful discretionary portfolio management service for wholesale clients. In 2006, Armytage broadened its product and service line-up with the addition of two managed funds, the Armytage Australian Equity Income Fund and the Armytage Strategic Opportunities Fund, enabling greater retail access to the firm’s investment capabilities through financial intermediaries. Both funds are actively managed in line with Armytage’s fundamental value style of investing, with options used strategically to lower volatility/risk levels and enhance portfolio income. This approach provides the Armytage Funds with the platform to deliver strong and consistent distribution payments to investors, complementing the Investment Team’s overall stock selection and investment management decisions.

The firm’s key executives have remained at Armytage for over 10 years. It is Armytage’s philosophy to outsource all non-core administration to ensure staff are focused on delivering the highest quality investment research and client services. The firm prides itself on having a transparent model where clients have direct access to the individual managers.

The Armytage Australian Equity Income Fund and the Armytage Strategic Opportunities Fund are available through a number of leading administration/wrap platforms. Please contact us if you would like any further information on Armytage’s product line-up or how to access a particular investment strategy.

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Our Philosophy

Armytage is a Value manager with a fundamental investment approach designed to identify quality businesses trading at a considerable discount to valuation.

The process is guided by the following core beliefs:

  • Equity markets are not perfectly efficient and the true value of a business is not always reflected in its share price;
  • Undervalued stocks can be identified through active research and insightful analysis;
  • Capital preservation is critical to wealth creation; and
  • A relative-value approach to investing delivers a more consistent and superior risk-adjusted outcome than deep-value.

The companies that Armytage typically invests in are those with strong and reliable management, good profit and dividend growth expectations, reasonably predictable future profits and cash flows, and a very clear business model. In contrast, Armytage tends to avoid investing in businesses that lack pricing power in their relevant market, or those that are higher risk, early-stage research and development or exploration based companies.

A Four Stage Investment Process

Intensive bottom-up research is the cornerstone of the entire process supplemented by top-down economic and thematic views. The process is disciplined and consistently applied using a number of proprietary qualitative and quantitative techniques to ensure that targeted companies have been thoroughly scrutinised.

1. Defining the Investment Universe

The first stage of the process is to narrow the number of stocks in the investment universe by applying a number of screens.

This approach systematically eliminates companies that do not meet certain minimum standards, allowing the investment team to focus more intensely on companies of potential interest.

2. Bottom-up Fundamental Company Research

Armytage’s research programme is focused on understanding the key drivers of business performance and returns, namely people, operations, products and services and market dynamics. For companies remaining in the investment universe, Armytage undertakes a detailed assessment of executive management, interviews competitors and suppliers, reviews financials and forms a clear view on the outlook for the company’s industry.

3. Portfolio Construction

Risk management and capital preservation are key themes underlying the portfolio construction framework. With a focus on actively managing down-side portfolio risk for investors, Armytage constructs an efficiently diversified portfolio of high quality, undervalued companies, and invests for the long term (typically at least 3 to 5 years) in an effort to maximise after-tax returns.

During the portfolio construction stage, the Armytage Australian Equity Income Fund and Strategic Opportunities Funds also employ a lower risk options overlay to enhance the portfolio’s overall yield and reduce volatility relative to the market, providing a stable platform for the delivery of strong and consistent distribution payments to investors.

4. Exchange Traded Option Overlay

After a stock makes it through the above process and into the portfolio, we utilize the exchange traded options market in a low risk manner to increase portfolio yield. We sell stock specific calls (backed by the shares) and stock specific puts (backed by cash). This leads to a higher yield without increasing the overall market exposure. Given that we only write out of the money current month options, the risk of exercise is significantly diminished.

Learn More

Read the Armytage Executive Team Profiles.

Please contact us if you would like to speak to a member of the Executive Team about our investment products and services.

Find out about our Equity Income Fund, SMA Portfolios, Individual Managed Accounts.

Approach to ESG Investing

  • Armytage is committed to operating our business in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. We recognize the importance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors in creating long-term value for our stakeholders and contributing to the well-being of society.
  • Research indicates that companies with strong ESG performance can outperform their peers over the long term. Companies that proactively manage ESG risks and opportunities tend to be more resilient, innovative, and adaptable to changing market conditions. Additionally, they may attract a broader investor base, as ESG-focused investors increasingly seek companies with sustainable business practices.
  • Investor interest in ESG has significantly increased in recent years. Institutional investors, asset managers, pension funds, and individual investors are increasingly incorporating ESG factors into their investment strategies. This demand has prompted a broader set of investment options, including ESG-focused mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and dedicated ESG indices. Additionally, many institutional investors are integrating ESG considerations into their investment policies and engaging with companies to encourage sustainable practices.
  • Our approaches to incorporating ESG into investment strategies include:
  • ESG Integration: Integrating ESG factors alongside traditional financial analysis to inform investment decisions.
  • Thematic Investing: Investing in companies that address specific environmental or social challenges (e.g., Electric Vehicles, renewable energy …)
  • Shareholder Engagement
  • ESG Screening (exclusion and restrictions).

ESG Investing Tool

ESG matrix is a visual tool used to assess and compare companies based on their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance. It allows Armytage to evaluate companies’ ESG practices and identify areas of strength and improvement.

In the matrix, the three ESG categories (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and their sub-categories are listed in rows. Each category is assigned a rating, indicating their level of performance. The ratings can be represented as “High,” “Medium,” or “Low,” or numerical scores, depending on the specific methodology used.

Multiple ESG matrices help investors and stakeholders compare companies side by side and identify those with strong ESG performance or areas needing improvement. It serves as a starting point for further analysis and decision-making in relation to ESG integration in investment strategies.

We understand that the ESG matrix is just one way to represent ESG performance, and there are various methodologies and frameworks available for assessing and scoring companies on ESG criteria. The specific factors and weightings used in an ESG matrix can vary depending on the investor’s preferences, industry-specific considerations, and regional regulations.

In 2023, Armytage made a considered decision as part of our philanthropic strategy to align with panel broker Trade for Good.

Trade for Good is the first-ever ASX trading platform that has been built from the ground up to have a social impact. As a Fund Manager, we believe this is a direct way we can feel close to social impact and connect with communities close to us.

We are supportive of Trade For Good making a social impact with and for us as they are sharing 50% of their brokerage fee with one of their 14 partner charities, or in our case, we pro-rata the donations equally across all their charities.

They not only provide us with a unique way to give back, Trade For Good also give great market feedback from time to time.

We have taken a function that is a standard cost to the fund and turned it into a positive impact on humans, animals and the environment.

We share our work across our website and social media platforms.

Our full ESG and Responsible Investment Policy can be found here.