Jupiter Fund Management saw net outflows of £1.6bn in the first quarter of this year in what it said was a ‘risk off’ environment.
The group saw its assets under management drop by £5.2bn to £55.3bn in the three months to March 31.
Jupiter said in a statement to the stock exchange this morning (April 26) that this was due to the impact of negative market returns of £3.6bn, and the net outflows.
“Worsening geopolitical events and inflationary concerns weighed upon client demand throughout the quarter, particularly in the retail and wholesale channel,” it said.
“As a result, we saw a 'risk off' environment across both equities and fixed income.”
The retail and wholesale channel saw £1.9bn in redemptions in the period, and the group said there was continued lower demand for UK and European-focused equity products.
It added inflationary concerns led to redemptions from its unconstrained fixed income strategies.
The group saw outflows in similar products last year.
UK equities in particular have had a rocky time across the fund management sector in recent years, with £5.3bn being withdrawn from the products in 2021, according to the Investment Association.
Jupiter’s institutional and investment trust divisions both saw inflows, of £200mn and £100mn respectively. The institutional flows were buoyed by the funding of a mandate from Brunel into the global sustainable equities strategy, and two client ‘wins’ in UK value equities.
Earlier this year Andrew Formica, chief executive of Jupiter, said the firm does not see itself being part of the present wave of consolidation in the sector.
Speaking on a results call on February 25, Formica said: “It is not our intention to look at M&A as part of delivering on our strategy, either through us doing a transaction or else being bought.”
Last October the group's global head of distribution Phil Wagstaff announced he will leave the group by the end of this year.
sally.hickey@ft.com
