Brown Advisory has been appointed as the investment manager for the Jupiter US Smaller Companies investment trust less than a week after it was announced the asset manager would be the beneficiary of assets from the Jupiter UK Growth trust.
The appointment follows the announcement in October that the trust’s manager, Jupiter fund manager Robert Siddles, will retire in April 2021. Siddles has managed the trust since 2001.
An RNS announcement on Wednesday said the appointment is expected to occur on or before 1 April 2021.
Brown Advisory is an employee-owned investment manager with a global AUM of more than $100bn. It will manage the trust using its US Small-Cap Growth Strategy which invests in small US companies “possessing above-average growth potential”.
The portfolio will be managed by Chris Berrier who has managed the US Small-Cap Growth Strategy since 2006.
Fundrock Partners will be appointed as the alternative investment fund manager and the company secretary.
Under the agreement, Brown Advisory and Fundrock will be paid an annual fee of 0.7% of the trust’s net assets on the first £200m, reducing to 0.6% on the next £300m and 0.5% above £500m.
The appointment will be for an initial term of 12 months and after that can be terminated by either party giving six months’ notice.
This month, the board of Jupiter UK Growth announced investors would be rolled over into the Brown Advisory Global Leaders fund as part of the investment trust’s liquidation due to dwindling assets.
Jupiter US Smaller Companies chairman Gordon Grender said: “The board undertook a very comprehensive manager selection process and we believe that the Brown US Small Cap Growth Strategy, with an impressively long track record and annualised returns of 14.5% over 10 years, stood out in a highly competitive field.
“We believe that the appointment of Brown should lead to strong performance, a narrower discount and ultimately the ability to grow the company over time.”
According to the Association of Investment Companies, the £160m trust currently trades on a discount of 13.9%.
Brown Advisory head of international business Logie Fitzwilliams said: “We are committed to marketing and growing this trust, and believe our appointment, future performance and a committed marketing strategy can help narrow the discount and drive shareholder value.”
