Jupiter shares crash to earth as top manager leaves and outflows accelerate

Shares in London asset manager Jupiter cratered today after it revealed one of its veteran managers would be leaving the firm and outflows accelerated faster than expected towards the end of the year.

In a trading update this morning, the London fund house said long-time manager Ben Whitmore, who has been with Jupiter since 2006, would be leaving next July to set up a boutique equities investment house. 

Jupiter has called in Alex Savvides from rival JO Hambro as part of a succession plan to oversee the outgoing Whitmore’s £5.3bn in funds for the firm.

In a statement today, Jupiter chief Matthew Beesley said Savvides’ appointment would help ensure an “orderly” transition. 

“[Savvides] performance, delivery of excellent client outcomes and asset growth track record over a long period of time mark him out as one of the truly exceptional UK equity investors,” Beesley added.

As part of his departure, Jupiter and Whitmore have agreed that his new boutique will not compete for two years from his leaving date.

The appointment comes as Jupiter grapples with the downturn that has rocked the wider money management market over the past year and triggered a flood of outflows from funds.

In the year to the end of December, Jupiter revealed it had suffered outflows of £2.2bn, more than it had predicted as recently as October, due to a delay in cash from some institutional funds and “weaker than anticipated retail sentiment” in the final months of the year.

Some £4bn of net retail outflows were softened by stronger demand from institutional investors, however, who injected £1.8bn of inflows to its funds. Jupiter said it expects to report performance fees of more than £10m for the year, higher than previous guidance.

Assets under management at the firm ticked up through the year despite a rise in outflows, totalling £52.2bn at the end of the year, compared to £50.2bn at the end of last year.

Shares in Jupiter were trading down 16 per cent as of 11:28am this morning after an already bruising year for the money manager. The stock has lost 46 per cent of its value over the past year.