JupiterJan 9 2018

Jupiter merges retail and wealth management

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Jupiter merges retail and wealth management

Jupiter has cited the "changing face of the investment industry" as the reason behind the merger of its sales teams in wealth management and retail.

John Tevenan, who had been head of the wealth management sales team, will lead the combined group.

James Crossley, who headed the UK retail sales division, has left the company.

Nick Ring, global head of distribution at Jupiter, said the reason for the changes is "increasingly blurred boundaries between wealth managers and retail distributors."

Jupiter’s assets under management were £48bn at the end of September 2017, an increase of 19 per cent over the year to that date. 

Jupiter's fixed income fund range was a key driver of the inflows.

At the start of last year Jupiter announced it would stop collecting 'box profits' from its funds after a year in which it reported £1bn of net inflows, driven almost entirely by its international operations.

The fund manager’s full-year figures showed assets increased to £40.5bn by 31 December 2016, up from £35.7bn a year earlier. 

Chief executive Maarten Slendebroek, stated the net inflows were “encouraging given the challenging market environment”. 

Mr Slendebroek added that the firm plans to shift its unit trust range to a single price for buying and selling fund units. 

The move, which will effectively eliminate so-called box profits, were expected to result in a £12.8m hit to 2018 income.

The move came after the FCA proposed taking sterner action on box profits, which relate to revenues stemming from investors buying and selling funds at different prices.

The regulator proposed that risk-free versions of these profits should always be paid back into funds rather than added to the company’s bottom line as part of its asset management market study. 

Jupiter said it would also pay for broker research itself, rather than charge investors, in advance of Mifid II rules which unbundle research from dealing commissions. The move added £5m in costs.

david.thorpe@ft.com