“So certainly I did my degree not with an idea that it would necessarily lead to a career in fund management. It was because I enjoyed geography, and geography is very much about taking insights from lots of different disciplines – whether it be economics, sociology or environmental sciences – and bringing together those insights in such a way as you understand how the world works.”
He then started work as a trainee investment manager, with a view to becoming a fund manager. “I went straight into a role on the Asian desk at Standard Life Investments, but I made it very clear throughout the whole interview process that I wanted to do something which had that broad geographical reach, because I’ve always travelled a lot,” he adds.
By living in Hong Kong for seven years, he indulged his passion while working at SLI. “It gave me an insight into the culture there which I couldn’t possibly have had from simply visiting Hong Kong,” he says. Interestingly, though, he thinks being based in London is “more conducive to good fund management”.
He notes: “Being based in Hong Kong, you’re surrounded by a lot of noise when looking at Asian markets – and so, while I’m grateful I had the experience of being out in Hong Kong, I actually feel in many ways analysing investment opportunities in Asia is better done in London.”
It was in Asia that Mr Teverson established his preference for an ‘unconstrained’ strategy. “A long time ago, initially when I was working in Hong Kong, I was running a pension fund, and that pension fund was index-aware,” says the manager. “So, risk for the fund was defined in terms of a tracking error relative to the benchmark, and it wasn’t personally how I would have wanted my own money [to be] run.
“Now, I personally would like all of my money to be invested in a compelling opportunity. And that’s what unconstrained gives me the ability as a manager to do: to completely disregard the benchmark and simply invest in those businesses where I think there is a good return proposition and… investments which come together in a portfolio to offer a very good overall risk-reward proposition as well.”
Jupiter already had a “huge amount of experience” on its emerging markets team when Teverson joined, though managers Kathryn Langridge and Philip Ehrmann subsequently left. “The significant evolution of the capability that’s already in place has been operating more as a team. So, twice a week we sit down around a table and we debate stock ideas,” he says.
