Ben Whitmore stepping down, Alex Savvides enters at Jupiter

(Sharecast News) - Jupiter Fund Management announced the recruitment of Alex Savvides on Tuesday, set to join the firm from JO Hambro Capital Management, as Ben Whitmore stepped down. The FTSE 250 company said Savvides currently oversees the £1.3bn UK Dynamic Fund and £1bn in segregated mandates, with a track record of strong performance since the fund's inception in June 2008.

It said the UK Dynamic Fund had achieved top-decile rankings over one and three years, and top-quartile rankings over five and ten years.

As of the end of December, the fund had secured a top-decile position and ranked sixth in the Lipper all-company universe.

Savvides was set to assume the management of the £2.1bn Jupiter UK Special Situations Fund upon his arrival in the autumn.

Ben Whitmore, the current manager responsible for overseeing several funds and segregated mandates with assets under management (AuM) totaling £4.8bn, had meanwhile informed Jupiter of his intention to depart.

Whitmore was set to establish an independent value equities boutique, pending regulatory approvals, and would remain with Jupiter until at least the end of July.

During the transitional period, a collaborative process will be initiated to ensure a seamless handover of his responsibilities for the assets he currently manages.

Jupiter previously announced the appointments of Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison, both of whom had since joined the company.

They were set to take on management roles for the £1.6bn AuM Jupiter Income Trust.

Gosden's UK Equity Income Fund at GAM had demonstrated strong performance over the last three years, with returns of 33.0%, surpassing the FTSE All Share benchmark of 24.5%.

Prior to his time at GAM, Gosden co-managed the £10bn UK Equity Income franchise at Artemis.

Additionally, Jupiter and Ben Whitmore have reached an agreement, which includes industry-standard covenants, stipulating that Whitmore's new boutique, once established, would not compete with Jupiter for a two-year period from his departure date.

In ongoing discussions, Jupiter was also exploring the possibility of Whitmore's new boutique becoming the delegated investment manager for the Jupiter Global Value Unit Trust, contingent on due diligence and broader governance considerations.

"Jupiter has always been a good home for outstanding talent and, since I joined Jupiter in January 2022, we have been working very hard to ensure that we have a pipeline of new hires which can both broaden our range of truly differentiated strategies and ensure orderly succession," said chief executive officer Matthew Beesley.

"I am thrilled that Alex is joining us. His performance, delivery of excellent client outcomes and asset growth track record over a long period of time mark him out as one of the truly exceptional UK equity investors.

"Having worked at Jupiter since 2006, Ben informed me of his ambition to set up a new independent value equities boutique which has been a long-term personal aspiration for him."

Beesley said Savvides' recruitment meant the company had an "excellent" succession plan in place for the UK Special Situations strategy and clients.

"The recent announcement that Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison have joined Jupiter and will assume management of the £1.6bn Jupiter Income Trust means that our clients in that strategy are already set to benefit from the experience and expertise of a well-known and highly-regarded investment team.

"Between Alex, Adrian and Chris, I feel that the future of these Jupiter strategies could not be in better hands.

"Indeed, the fact that our recruitment has meant that clients will benefit from a seamless transition was a consideration in the timing of Ben informing us of his intention to leave and set up his own boutique."

At 0833 GMT, shares in Jupiter Fund Management were down 12.18% at 77.72p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.