Jupiter has closed its Emerging European Opportunities Fund due to issues arising from the war in Ukraine.
The company suspended the fund in early March after the outbreak of conflict led to valuation difficulties as well as the impact of sanctions on Russia and Belarus.
A spokesperson for Jupiter said today (May 4) that the company has applied to the FCA to close the fund, and will do so subject to regulatory approval being granted.
They said: “Prior to the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine, we had initiated a review of the fund to consider its prospects for future growth over the medium to long term.
“The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has severely impacted trading conditions in the markets in which the fund primarily invests, negatively affecting our ability to value certain assets in the fund.
“After careful consideration of all relevant issues, we believe that the closure of the fund is in the best interests of its investors, allowing us to return a level of cash to investors earlier than we expect would otherwise be possible.”
A number of other funds including Barings’ Eastern European Fund and BlackRock’s Emerging Europe Fund also gated in early March.
Performance
The £27mn fund had seen its performance crash in recent months, posting a -38.5 per cent return in the three months to the end of February 2022, compared with the IA specialist sector which returned 0.9 per cent.
Source: FE Fundinfo
The fund’s highest three holdings are in Russian companies.
It has a 9.7 per cent exposure to state-owned energy company Gazprom, as well as 9.6 per cent to another energy company, Lukoil, and 5.6 per cent to Sberbank.
Last week the FCA asked the industry for its feedback on proposals to create ‘side pockets’ in funds exposed to Russia, Belarus and Ukraine assets to allow suspended funds to re-open.
sally.hickey@ft.com
