Jupiter Fund Management PLC (LSE:JUP) shares orbited 14% lower to 76.5p after it reported £2.2 billion of net outflows in the past year and revealed that highly regarded fund manager Ben Whitmore is leaving to start his own management boutique.
Whitmore, who has been with the company since 2006 and will leave in July, was lately managing assets worth £10.5 billion across several funds.
The FTSE 250-listed asset manager said it has recruited Alex Savvides from JO Hambro to replace Whitmore as manager of the £2.1 billion Jupiter UK Special Situations Fund. Savvides managed the JO Hambro's £1.3 billion UK Dynamic Fund and about £1 billion in other mandates.
Taking over management of what was Whitmore's £1.6 billion Jupiter Income Trust are Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison, who were recruited from GAM in the autumn.
Jupiter's total assets under management stood at £52.2 billion at the end of the calendar year, up from £50.2 billion a year earlier, as £4 billion of net retail outflows were offset by £1.8 billion of institutional inflows and £4.2 billion of market and performance gains.
The statement noted delays in funding institutional mandates and weak retail sentiment in October and November.
In the unscheduled update, the group said it expects to earn performance fees of more than £10 million, compared to the £7-10 million previously anticipated, with an improved performance in the fourth quarter.
With Savvides arriving in the autumn, analysts at Peel Hunt said, "this is likely to cause significant uncertainty as to the level of funds retained; inevitably we expect a chunk will be lost".
On the trading update, the analysts said AUM was better than they had assumed, but net outflows were worse.
They noted a write-off of goodwill on acquisitions that "highlights the challenges Jupiter is facing".
"We will review our forecasts – the key assumption is what level of AUM attrition is suffered, but overall we see it as negative to lose such a key fund manager," the analysts added.