Andrew Formica (pictured) has loaded up on £800k worth of shares in Jupiter days after becoming the top boss at the fund group.
On his first day as CEO of the FTSE 250 group last Friday, the former Janus Henderson boss acquired 66,173 shares in the company at £3.60 per share, a regulatory filing published on Tuesday confirmed. He purchased a further 150,000 shares at £3.69 per share on Monday, his second official day on the job, resulting in a total stake worth £791,573.
Portfolio Adviser understands the transactions were a gesture of good faith from Formica in his first days as boss of the asset manager.
The purchases make Formica one of the directors with the biggest stake in the business. Former chief executive and current vice chairman Edward Bonham Carter remains the largest individual shareholder with 10 million shares, followed by outgoing CEO Maarten Slendebroek who held 564,000 shares in the company at 31 December 2018. Slendebroek told Portfolio Adviser last week he would remain a shareholder in the fund house for “for years to come”.
The largest institutional shareholders in the fund group are Silchester International Investors, which owns 78 million shares or a 17.04% stake, Baillie Gifford with 38 million shares (8.41%) and Rathbone Investment Management which owns 27 million shares (5.88%).
Andrew Formica’s salary
Formica will have a base salary of £445,000 in his first year as CEO, according to Jupiter’s 2018 annual report, which it said is “reflective of the market rate for his level of experience”. This is up slightly from Slendebroek’s base salary of £425,000 for 2018.
Like the outgoing chief executive Formica will have his annual bonus capped at 425%, meaning he could walk away with a total pay package worth close to £2m for 2019.
He will also be entitled to LTIP awards worth £1.39m for 2019, which is 375% of his salary, pro-rated for the period of the performance year he will serve as CEO.
Jupiter’s share price remains depressed relative to other listed UK managers, following a turbulent year in which it saw assets fall by £7.5bn and became a target for short-sellers.
But in the month since Formica’s appointment was announced Jupiter’s shares have recovered by 12% though they are still down 40% from their peak price of 630p in December 2017.
