Jupiter Asset Management has hired George Ensor and Mayan Uthayakumar from rival fund group Liontrust, the firm announced this morning.
Ensor and Uthayakumar worked at River Global, which was recently acquired by Liontrust, and are expected to start in their new roles from January next year.
The managers run the £149m Liontrust UK Listed Smaller Companies fund, as well as the £79m Liontrust River UK Micro Cap investment trust.
Today’s announcement is part of the wider restructuring of Jupiter’s UK equities capability under the leadership of Adrian Gosden and Alex Savvides, who will head up the Income and Alpha investment teams, respectively.
As a result, Tim Service and Matt Cable are to leave the firm in early 2027, the firm announced, with the income managers expected to take on the management of Jupiter's existing UK small and mid-cap range.
Service joined the firm through the merger with Merian Global Investors and has co-run the Jupiter UK Mid Cap fund since 2023 alongside James Giblert, with the pair taking over from Richard Watts. He is also in sole charge of the Jupiter UK Specialist Equity fund.
Cable oversees the Jupiter UK Smaller Companies fund and Rights & Issues Investment Trust.
Piers Hillier, chief investment officer at Jupiter, said Ensor and Uthayakumar bring "strong track records of delivering investment performance for both retail and institutional clients".
"Today's announcement reaffirms our commitment to our home market of the UK and, under the leadership of Alex Savvides and Adrian Gosden, we have built teams of high-quality investment managers across styles and market caps, with the ability to deliver positive outcomes for clients across the market cycle," he added.