The £809m vehicle was launched into the market in May 2009 with much anticipation, but it has performed almost exactly in line with its sector average during this time, and underperformed its FTSE APCIMS Stock Market Growth Index benchmark.
However Dampier (pictured), head of research at Hargreaves Lansdown, says that while he does not agree with a few of the investment decisions made by Littlewood, he has no plans to sell his stake in Artemis Strategic Assets, or remove it from the Wealth 150 list.
When asked whether new investors should be buying the fund, Dampier was very clear in his answer.
"Oh yes, definitely," he replied.
"He made a mistake when he shorted sovereign debt and some European corporate debt, in my opinion. He owned some developed debt, but bonds was where the money was made and by ignoring that he has struggled."
"I’ve argued with him personally about this decision; he thinks that inflation is going to kick off in a major way, which it could well do, but it hasn’t yet."
"I own the fund and I am going to stick with it. I think people who are selling are too short-term natured in their approach, but that’s the way it is these days. It could do spectacularly if inflation does pick up, but investors may have to be patient."
Artemis Strategic Assets sits in the IMA Flexible Investment sector, which means it can hold up to 100 per cent in equities. It is a multi-asset portfolio that aims to beat both cash and the market over rolling three-year periods.
Since the fund’s launch it has returned 37.49 per cent, beating its IMA Flexible Investment sector by 0.45 percentage points, with less volatility.
Performance of fund since launch vs sector and index
Source: FE Analytics
However, it has quite significantly underperformed its benchmark, which has returned 44.96 per cent during this time. The index has also been less volatile.
Money poured into the fund between its launch and April 2011, with assets under management growing from £297.4m to £970m. However, FE data shows there have been some outflows since spring of last year.
Like Dampier, Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, says it would be wrong to write off Littlewood. He sees Artemis Strategic Assets as a buy-and-hold play, and highlights the fact that recent market conditions haven’t suited the manager’s style.
"It is certainly still buyable, absolutely," he commented.
"The Artemis Strategic Assets fund has a multi-asset approach, so it is likely to underperform in strong equity markets."
"He holds some currency, metals and some bonds. However, he is short on gilts, which may not be too bad now, but when he did it, it certainly hurt the fund’s performance."
"He is hoping to give equity-like returns and find extra value to boost performance. Although it has been up and down a bit recently, I expect steady, smooth returns over the long-run."
"For that reason, I’m certainly sticking with him," he finished.
McDermott is one of FE’s AFI panellists. The Artemis fund is a constituent of the AFI Cautious, Balanced and Aggressive indices.
In a recent note to investors, Littlewood defended his decision to short gilts, insisting that recent bouts of quantitative easing will hinder returns of government bonds.
"In the UK there have been some calls for the government to cancel the debt that it has bought with its quantitative easing programme," Littlewood said.
"Lord Turner, one of the favourites for the job of governor of the Bank of England, said in an important speech at Mansion House that 'optimal policy also needs to include a willingness to employ still more innovative and unconventional policies'."
"This was widely interpreted as a call for cancelling part of the national debt that has been acquired via its money-printing operations. Keynesians are excited at this prospect."
"These sorts of views seem to be gaining credibility; and the possibility of such policies being implemented is rising. This would not be good for sterling or gilts."
Artemis Strategic Assets requires a minimum investment of £1,000 and has a total expense ratio of 1.59 per cent.
Littlewood currently holds 64 per cent in equities, with the majority in the UK and US large cap markets. He is currently short Japanese, UK, US and French government bonds.