Jupiter’s new chief executive is to reorganise the company's funds and split the chief investment officer role in an attempt to improve the group’s performance.
A third of the asset manager’s funds will be closed, merged or reconfigured and the chief investment officer role has been divided into head of equities and head of fixed income.
A spokesperson for Jupiter said the changes come as the company seeks to achieve a more effective and efficient structure to achieve its “strategic future goals”.
“Amid a rapidly changing investment landscape, it is important that we retain a clear focus on growing and developing our core strategies and design our range accordingly.
“While the restructure of our product offering is ongoing, we believe we now have the right fund management teams in place across the range to address our clients’ needs.”
The news was first reported by Bloomberg.
The group’s investment director for fixed income and multi-asset, Matthew Morgan, has been promoted to head of fixed income and the company is in the final stages of recruiting a head of equities, with John Chatfield-Roberts acting as interim head of equities in the meantime.
The previous chief investment officer, Matthew Beesley, was promoted to chief executive officer, a role he took up at the start of this month.
The changes come after reports last month that Beesley is preparing for a restructuring to slash costs and revive growth at the firm, after conducting an internal review.
Outflows persisting
The fund house has struggled with outflows for years, with its funds losing £3.8bn last year despite gross inflows of £16.5bn.
It is known as a specialist in the value style of investing, which has been unpopular in recent years, and has also suffered from the rising market share captured by model portfolio providers which has impacted its multi-manager products.
The outflows are focused mainly in the group’s European and UK equity funds, but also in the Merian funds, a fund house taken over by Jupiter in 2020.
Former chief executive Andrew Formica announced his resignation in June, saying the initial phase of the business’s transformation project had been completed.
Formica said he was leaving to move back to Australia with his family.
However, a month before his resignation, former board member Jon Little criticised the fund house, saying it has "lost its way" and needs to change its management and strategy.
Little took aim at Formica, saying his appointment was a “mistake”, and the selection process was undertaken with “undue haste and without proper consideration of the risks involved”.
He also suggested the company's drop in share price seen over the past few years was “self inflicted”.
At the time Jupiter said: “We listen to and respect the views of our shareholders and will respond to Little directly…we are confident that we have the right foundations in place to deliver...underpinned by our strong capital position.”
Market commentators have said the outflows make it vulnerable to a takeover, despite Formica saying earlier this year that Jupiter does not see itself being part of the current wave of consolidation in the sector.
sally.hickey@ft.com
