Jupiter Asset Management has recruited GAM’s Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison to join the company, bringing with them their co-managed UK Equity Income fund.
Gosden and Morrison are set to begin at Jupiter in 2024, leaving GAM after six and 12 years respectively. The duo will bring the £400m equity fund in their move, which will be managed by Jupiter through a subadvisory agreement until officially moving to Jupiter’s platform sometime in 2024.
The £1.5bn Jupiter Income Trust, which is currently managed by Ben Whitmore, will also be placed in the hands of Gosden and Morrison subject to approval. In their new positions, Morrison will report to Gosden while Gosden reports to head of equities Kiran Nandra, who joined Jupiter earlier this year from Pictet.
“I am excited to join Jupiter and am looking forward to being part of its successful equities team. Their ethos of high conviction, truly active management is closely aligned with the way that Chris and I have invested over our careers and which we continue to believe can deliver the best outcomes for clients,” Gosden said.
“UK equities have not been in favour with investors in recent years but the United Kingdom is home to many companies which are leaders in their field, with strong balance sheets and resilient business models. Valuations are low and, with the combination of strong dividends and enhanced share buybacks, I believe we will see increased appetite for the asset class from both domestic and international investors.”
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The fund, which was launched by Gosden in 2017, has returned 27.7% over the last three years.
Gosden came to GAM after managing a £10bn UK equity income franchise at Artemis for 13 years, while Morrison managed European equity portfolios at Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management.
“Adrian is one of the most highly regarded UK Equity Income investors in the market with a very strong track record of delivering performance for clients and of raising AUM in this asset class,” Nandra said.
“Since I joined Jupiter in the early part of this year, we have been looking closely at our equity range of funds, including UK equities, and it is our intention to continue to develop and grow this part of our business, ensuring our clients have access to the best investment talent and a compelling mix of high quality, differentiated active investment strategies.”
Ben Yearsley, co-founder of Fairview Investing, told Portfolio Adviser he suspects there won’t be “a whole lot of change” to how the investment company is run, with both Gosden and Whitmore both adopting “out and out” value approaches.
“It’s probably a good move for all concerned,” he said. “Income was Jupiter’s flagship fund for years but doesn’t really feature these days. Gosden is a good manager, having been slightly left behind by the goings on at GAM.”
Kamal Warraich, head of equity fund research at Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management, concurs that the move is a “good fit” given both managers’ style biases. “As with all manager changes, investors will have to keep an eye on subtle changes to the philosophy and portfolio construction,” he said.
“New managers will invariably want to put their mark on a fund – sometimes these changes work well, sometimes they are less successful – so it will be interesting to see what happens over time.”
