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Jupiter suffered £10.3bn of web outflows final yr after one of many UK asset supervisor’s high stockpickers left and prospects continued to withdraw their cash from its actively-run funds.
The FTSE 250 firm’s withdrawals snowballed from £2.2bn the earlier yr, after a big chunk was pulled within the remaining few months of 2024 simply as Ben Whitmore, the group’s lead UK worth fund supervisor, left the corporate.
The sharp improve in outflows had been worse than analysts’ expectations of £8.4bn, and introduced the fund group’s whole belongings beneath administration right down to £45.3bn — a 13 per cent discount on the earlier yr.
Matthew Beesley, chief govt of Jupiter, mentioned prospects’ withdrawals had been pushed by the departure of Whitmore and his workforce, which prompted some £6.2bn of redemptions from their funds. Whitmore left to arrange his personal funding boutique, Brickwood, which he launched earlier this week, the FT revealed.
“Quick-term outflows inevitably comply with administration adjustments, however we’re assured this units us up nicely for long-term development,” Beesley mentioned.
Whitmore managed about £10bn for Jupiter at his peak, which accounted on the time for a fifth of Jupiter’s belongings. Beesley final yr introduced in Alex Savvides from JO Hambro Capital Administration to exchange Whitmore on his predominant UK worth fund.
Beesley has taken different steps in an try to bolster the enterprise, similar to poaching an funding workforce from Origin to be able to increase in international equities.
The fund group additionally listed an energetic trade traded fund this month, in an try to draw prospects by providing a bond fund technique led by one among its managers in a lower-cost product.
Jupiter is one among a bunch of UK midsized asset managers that’s grappling with excessive prices, regulatory pressures, and buyer withdrawals as buyers shift their cash into cheaper index-tracking merchandise.
