Jupiter vetoes handing fund to star manager Ben Whitmore

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Jupiter fund group will retain £616mn run by its outgoing star stockpicker Ben Whitmore after debating whether to let him manage the money from his new venture.

The FTSE 250 asset manager had weighed whether to give Whitmore the Global Value Equity unit trust to run from his new investment firm, Brickwood Asset Management, for a fee once he leaves Jupiter at the end of month.

But Jupiter had decided to continue managing the fund internally, according to people familiar with the situation.

The group will instead hand the fund to investment manager Brian McCormick and Alex Savvides, a fund manager who Jupiter recently poached from rival JO Hambro Capital Management.

The decision means Jupiter’s “value” equity funds — stocks that are thought to be cheaper than their real worth — are left with a total £4.9bn.

The departure of Whitmore, who is considered one of the UK’s top-performing equity managers, has been a blow to Jupiter. Whitmore managed as much as £10bn for Jupiter at the start of the year, amounting to about a fifth of its total assets under management.

His decision to leave in January prompted investors to withdraw their money. Assets in the value funds have dropped by some £5bn this year from withdrawals and investment performance.

Jupiter is among a group of midsized asset managers in the UK that have suffered from a lengthy period of outflows, as investors withdraw their money from funds managed by stockpickers in favour of cheaper index trackers.

Retail investors, who account for the bulk of Jupiter’s assets, have been pulling money from UK equity funds and investing in global stocks in search of higher returns.

Matthew Beesley, chief executive of Jupiter, has attempted to broaden its business by attracting more institutional clients and expanding its overseas investment capabilities. The fund group struck a deal earlier this week to partner with an Australian distribution company to sell its funds to pension schemes and other institutions in the country.

Jupiter also hired Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison from Swiss fund manager GAM earlier in the year to run the £1.4bn UK Income fund that was previously overseen by Whitmore.

Jupiter confirmed that Whitmore will have left the group by the start of November. It said the board had “considered client feedback” and “undertaken a thorough assessment of the boutique” before deciding that “it is in the best interests of clients” to manage the fund internally.

Whitmore declined to comment.

According to Citywire, Whitmore has returned 26 per cent over the past few years, making him one of the top-10 UK equity managers.

Ben Yearsley, an investment director at consultancy Fairview Investing, said Whitmore had “done a good job in a tough space”, noting that value stocks have long been “out of favour”.

He added: “In an unloved area he is one of the go-to managers.”