Veteran stockpicker Ben Whitmore is to leave Jupiter to set up his own independent value boutique, the firm announced this morning.
He currently runs the £2.1bn Jupiter UK Special Situations fund, Jupiter Income Trust (£1.6bn), Jupiter Global Value fund (£1bn) and Jupiter Global Value portfolio (£500m), as well as segregated mandates with a further £4.8bn of assets under management.
He will remain with Jupiter until at least the end of July 2024, the firm announced in regulatory files this morning.
Whitmore’s longest tenure has been on the Jupiter UK Special Situations fund, which he has run since 2006. During this time, it has been the 10th best performer in the IA UK All Companies sector, making 252.5%.
Performance of fund vs sector and benchmark since manager start
Source: FE Analytics
Taking over Whitmore's flagship fund will be FE fundinfo Alpha Manager Alex Savvides, who is joining Jupiter from JO Hambro Capital Management, where he has run his JOHCM UK Dynamic portfolio since 2008.
Under Savvides' stewardship the £1.3bn UK Dynamic fund has returned 278.3%, the eighth best effort in the IA UK All Companies sector over this time.
Both Jupiter UK Special Situations and JOHCM UK Dynamic have been top-quartile performers in the sector over one, three and 10 years, while the JOHCM portfolio dipped to the second quartile over five years.
Savvides said: “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.”
Whitmore's Jupiter Income Trust fund will be taken over by the incoming Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison, who joined from GAM this month.
Matthew Beesley, CEO, Jupiter Asset Management, said: “Between Alex, Adrian and Chris, I feel that the future of these Jupiter strategies could not be in better hands.”
Whitmore has 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.
However, discussions are ongoing as to establish whether the Jupiter Global Value fund will continue to be managed by Whitmore’s new boutique, once established, as a delegated investment manager of Jupiter.
The news came as part of a trading update in which Jupiter announced it had suffered more outflows than had been expected during October and November, meaning its new full year expectations for 2023 are for net withdrawals of £2.2bn. Shares dropped 15% in early morning trading.