Jupiter Global Value Equity – October 2024 further update

Jupiter has completed its due diligence of Brickwood Asset Management – the planned boutique investment company to be set up by fund managers Ben Whitmore and Dermot Murphy. They have considered whether Whitmore and Murphy should manage the fund on a sub-advisory basis at Brickwood, but concluded it’s in investors’ best interests for the fund to remain at Jupiter.

Whitmore and Murphy will step down from managing this fund and leave Jupiter by 1 November 2024. At this point, Brian McCormick and Alex Savvides will take over management of the fund.

McCormick joined Jupiter and the global value team in 2020 to work alongside Whitmore and Murphy. He was initially an analyst and started managing global equity portfolios in 2022. While this means he has some experience managing global funds using a similar value-focused investment approach as the Jupiter Global Value Equity fund, his track record remains short.

Savvides joined Jupiter more recently after leaving JO Hambro Capital Management where he had run the UK Dynamic fund since 2008. He has already taken over the Jupiter UK Dynamic fund (previously named the Jupiter UK Special Situations fund). While Savvides has a longer track record, he has historically focused on UK companies and hasn’t managed a global fund before. Investing in global markets can be very different from investing in one region or country.

The fund doesn’t currently feature on the Wealth Shortlist, given the shorter track record of the two new managers on global funds, and the fact they haven’t previously worked or managed a fund together. In addition, while we expect McCormick and Savvides to use a similar investment philosophy and process to the existing managers, they will naturally have some differences. We will meet the new managers in due course and inform investors of any planned changes.

For now, we’ll continue to monitor the fund as the new managers build a track record.