Jupiter has poached Newton fund manager Christopher Smith as Steve Davies exits the business and hands over his £958m UK Growth fund.
The announcement comes just over a week after Davies lost his smaller closed-ended fund to Richard Buxton ahead of the FTSE 250 firm’s merger with Merian Global Investors.
Davies would be “leaving the company to pursue other opportunities”, Jupiter said in a press release.
He had worked on the fund since 2007. But the fund has underperformed losing investors 5.6% over five years compared to 26.5% returns in the Investment Association UK All Companies sector, according to FE Fundinfo.
Jupiter UK Growth fund performance
| 6m | 1yr | 3yr | 5yr | 10yr | |
| Jupiter UK Growth | 3.06 | -0.64 | -4.79 | -5.55 | 101.89 |
| IA UK All Companies sector | 4.19 | 6.61 | 12.84 | 26.51 | 116.00 |
Source: FE Fundinfo
Smith will join the firm in June, taking over the fund at the end of that month. At Newton, where he had worked for almost a decade, Smith had been co-managing the BNY Mellon UK Opportunities fund, which he took on in January 2018, with Simon Nichols. The duo also co-managed the BNY Mellon UK Equity fund.
Performance of BNY Mellon IM funds co-managed by Christopher Smith
| 6m | 1yr | 3yr | 5yr | 10yr | |
| BNY Mellon UK Equity | -0.79 | 6.12 | 15.64 | 32.01 | 110.46 |
| BNY Mellon UK Opportunities | -0.35 | 9.01 | 16.29 | 35.95 | 137.90 |
| FTSE All Share | 2.19 | 4.24 | 11.95 | 26.95 | 105.74 |
| IA UK All Companies sector | 4.19 | 6.61 | 12.84 | 26.51 | 116.00 |
Source: FE Fundinfo
BNY Mellon Investment Management emphasised its team-based approach and confirmed Nichols, who has been with the firm since 2001, will remain on both funds. Ilga Haubelt, head of equity opportunities, and Ben Smith, equity opportunities portfolio manager, will also join the management team of both funds.
Jupiter touts Steve Davies replacement as ‘rising star’
Jupiter equities analyst James Moir, who has worked with Davies since 2017, will remain on the UK Growth fund.
“A bottom-up stock picker with a highly active, fundamentals-driven approach, Chris is a true growth investor and his style is clearly aligned with Jupiter’s culture,” said Jupiter CIO Stephen Pearson.
“At Jupiter we strongly believe in identifying and fostering future leaders and we believe Chris’s proven track record in a period of considerable uncertainty for the UK economy sets him apart as a real rising star,” Pearson said.
“While Jupiter’s proposed deal with Merian Global Investors significantly strengthens our capabilities with the arrival of some established names in the UK all-cap equities space, it is important to us that we continue to nurture and develop emerging talent, ensuring we have the right people at the helm of every product in our range.”
