Jupiter has decided to retain the management of the Jupiter Global Value Equity fund, following initial discussions around whether to outsource this to its former manager Ben Whitmore.
Whitmore will soon formally left Jupiter, having previously managed the Jupiter Global Value Equity fund and a range of others at the firm.
He has since set up his own investment firm, Brickwood, in partnership with former Schroders fund manager Kevin Murphy and Dermot Murphy, his former deputy at Jupiter and brother of Kevin, as well as others.
Jupiter confirmed at that time it was contemplating sub contracting the management of the fund to Whitmore.
Whitmore’s replacement at Jupiter is Alex Savvides, whose background is in UK equities, and Savvides runs the UK mandates previously run by Whitmore.
Jupiter has now confirmed that no deal has been done with Whitmore, and the assets will instead be managed by Jupiter employee Brian McCormick, who has worked his way up the ranks at Jupiter having started as an analyst.
A statement from Jupiter read: “In previous announcements and client updates, Jupiter had stated that it was considering whether it would be in the best interests of clients for the fund to be sub-delegated to Ben Whitmore’s independent value equities boutique, once established.
"Having now considered client feedback, noting the strength of the investment expertise within Jupiter, and having also undertaken a thorough assessment of the boutique, it has been concluded by the Jupiter board that it is in the best interests of clients for the Fund to be managed by Brian and Alex.”
Savvides will assist in the running of the fund.
The impact of Whitmore’s exit from Jupiter is evident in the size of the fund. His exit was announced on January 9, 2024, and on that date the fund was £948mn in size, according to data from FE Analytics.
In performance terms, the fund has struggled over the past five years, returning 38 per cent, compared with a peer group average of 58 per cent, as the chart below shows.
Ben Whitmore formally exited Jupiter on November 1, while Savvides joined on October 7.
david.thorpe@ft.com
