Savvides to join Jupiter; Whitmore to leave

Jupiter Fund Management PLC

09 January 2024

 

Alex Savvides to join Jupiter; Ben Whitmore to leave the Company. Trading Update.

Jupiter announces it has recruited Alex Savvides. He will join from JO Hambro Capital Management where he currently manages the £1.3bn UK Dynamic Fund (the "Fund") as well as approximately a further £1bn in segregated mandates. Alex Savvides has managed the strategy since its inception in June 2008 and has consistently delivered strong performance. The Fund is ranked top decile over 1 and 3 years and top quartile over 5 and 10 years[1]. Since inception, the Fund also has top decile performance and is ranked 6^th in the Lipper all Company universe (as at the end of December 2023). Alex Savvides is expected to join Jupiter by the Autumn of 2024 and, upon arrival, will assume management of the £2.1bn Jupiter UK Special Situations Fund.

Ben Whitmore, the current manager of the Jupiter UK Special Situations Fund (AUM £2.1bn), Jupiter Income Trust (AUM £1.6bn), Jupiter Global Value Unit Trust (AUM £1.0bn) and Jupiter Global Value SICAV (AUM £0.5bn), and segregated mandates with a further £4.8bn of AUM, has informed the company of his intention to leave in order to pursue his ambition of establishing an independent value equities boutique in due course, subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. He will remain with Jupiter until at least the end of July 2024, during which time there will be an orderly and collaborative transition process with his successors in relation to the Jupiter assets he currently manages.

On 20 November 2023, Jupiter announced the appointment of Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison (who have since joined the company) and that they would assume management responsibilities for the Jupiter Income Trust (AUM £1.6bn) during the course of this year. At GAM, Adrian Gosden's UK Equity Income Fund has recorded top quartile performance over the last three years, returning 33.0% versus the FTSE All Share benchmark of 24.5%.[2] Prior to his time at GAM, Adrian Gosden co-managed the £10bn UK Equity Income franchise at Artemis.

Alongside a number of industry standard covenants, Jupiter and Ben Whitmore have agreed that his new boutique, once established, will not compete with Jupiter for a period of two years from his leaving date in relation to both the UK Equity Income sector and the non-UK open-ended UCITS market. 

Jupiter is also in discussions with Ben Whitmore to establish whether, subject to due diligence and broader governance considerations, it would be in the best interests of clients of the Jupiter Global Value Unit Trust for that fund to be managed by Ben's new boutique, once established, as a delegated investment manager of Jupiter.

Matthew Beesley, CEO, Jupiter Asset Management, said: "Jupiter has always been a good home for outstanding talent and, since I joined Jupiter in January 2022, we have been working very hard to ensure that we have a pipeline of new hires which can both broaden our range of truly differentiated strategies and ensure orderly succession. I am thrilled that Alex is joining us. His performance, delivery of excellent client outcomes and asset growth track record over a long period of time mark him out as one of the truly exceptional UK equity investors. 

Having worked at Jupiter since 2006, Ben informed me of his ambition to set up a new independent value equities boutique which has been a long-term personal aspiration for him. I would like to thank him sincerely for his contribution to the company and, after he leaves Jupiter, wish him well for the future. Naturally, delivering the best outcomes for clients and ensuring a seamless succession remain our collective focus at this time. Alex's recruitment means that we have an excellent succession plan in place for the UK Special Situations strategy and our clients. The recent announcement that Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison have joined Jupiter and will assume management of the £1.6bn Jupiter Income Trust means that our clients in that strategy are already set to benefit from the experience and expertise of a well-known and highly-regarded investment team. Between Alex, Adrian and Chris, I feel that the future of these Jupiter strategies could not be in better hands.

Indeed, the fact that our recruitment has meant that clients will benefit from a seamless transition was a consideration in the timing of Ben informing us of his intention to leave and set up his own boutique."

Alex Savvides said: "I am very excited to be joining Jupiter at this important time in its evolution. Jupiter has an illustrious history in developing and nurturing active investment talent and is one of the most well-respected names in UK asset management. Special situations and value investing underpin my investment philosophy. Whilst my approach to investing is not dissimilar to the strategy's current investment approach - a highly disciplined and active style focused on undervalued UK companies - I believe we can build on this strategy's legacy by blending in the proven stock selection, stewardship and engagement approach that I have employed successfully for clients over many years. The UK market offers considerable opportunities for patient, motivated and disciplined investors to produce good investment returns. I am committed to delivering to the best of my abilities for Jupiter's clients."

Trading Update

At the start of the year we stated that our internal forecasts were for 'modest net outflows' for 2023. While we reaffirmed this expectation with the trading update in October 2023, a delay in the funding of some institutional mandates combined with weaker than anticipated retail sentiment in October and November 2023 has led to an incrementally more negative flow outcome than we had anticipated. Total net outflows for 2023 are expected to be £2.2bn. All numbers below are non-audited and subject to revision.

£bn	AUM at 31 December 2022	FY 2023 net flows	FY 2023 market and other movements	AUM at 31 December 2023
Retail, wholesale & investment trusts	43.4	(4.0)	2.8	42.2
Institutional	6.8	1.8	1.4	10.0
Total	50.2	(2.2)	4.2	52.2

On an indicative basis, aggregate investment performance has trended more positively in the fourth quarter. Jupiter expects to report performance fees earned of more than £10 million for the year ended 31 December 2023, which is higher than previous guidance. This principally reflects strong performance throughout the year in respect of one performance fee generating fund mandate.

Within the current market context of lower asset valuations, muted demand for risk assets from retail clients and a higher cost of capital, we are required by accounting rules to consider these impacts on the valuation of intangible assets as at 31 December 2023.  We consider it to be likely that this valuation will result in some impairment of the goodwill on our balance sheet. Goodwill impairment affects a non-cash item and will not impact on regulatory capital or the Group's ability to distribute capital to shareholders in accordance with our capital allocation framework.

Goodwill was recognised on the acquisition of Knightsbridge Asset Management Limited in 2007 (£341.2m) and Merian Global Investors Limited in 2020 (£229.4m) which, as required by IFRS, form part of Jupiter's single cash generating unit. Significant value has already been realised by the Group from those acquisitions. However, current economic conditions and the associated increase in cost of capital have, combined with lower market valuations, resulted in the lower valuation of the business as a whole in the short term.

Full details will be published with our full year 2023 results on 22 February 2024.

For further information please contact:

Media

Edelman Smithfield

Andrew Wilde

[e-mail] / [phone]

Latika Shah

[e-mail] / [phone]

Investors

[e-mail] / [phone]

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[1] Source: Trustnet

[2] Source: Trustnet

 

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