Omnis Investments has yanked its Omnis Global Emerging Markets Equity Opportunities mandate from Jupiter, appointing Somerset Capital Management instead.
The appointment of Somerset to manage the £322m fund from 8 April was driven by Omnis’ focus on “delivering the best outcomes for clients and advisers”.
The fund had been run by Jupiter’s global emerging markets head of strategy Ross Teverson since launch in August 2019. Since inception it has returned 17.1% while its benchmark the MSCI Emerging Markets index has delivered 26.3%.
Jupiter declined to comment.
This is the second mandate Omnis has pulled Jupiter from in under a year. In September it handed its £242m European Equity Leaders mandate over to Fidelity International’s Sam Morse only a year after it was launched by Jupiter’s European equity team.
Jupiter’s Ben Whitmore remains the manager on the Income & Growth fund after Omnis kicked Neil Woodford to the curb in the aftermath of the Woodford Equity Income suspension.
See also: Omnis yanks Jupiter off £230m European equity mandate
Omnis touts Somerset’s small cap track record
Omnis said its team and independent consultant Fundhouse, which led the selection process, had “unanimously agreed” Somerset was the best candidate to take the mandate forward.
It cited Somerset’s long track record of investing in smaller companies as key to its decision. The Global Emerging Markets Equity Opportunities fund has a requirement to invest in companies with a market cap below $10bn (£7.3bn).
Somerset’s flagship £324m Global Emerging Markets fund has returned 37.7% over one year, below the IA Global Emerging Markets average of 43% according to Trustnet. Its Emerging Markets Small Cap fund, also in the same sector, has returned 39.7% in the last 12 months.
The emerging markets boutique, co-founded by Jacob Rees-Mogg, reported a 20% plunge in operating profits to £20.8m for the year ended 31 March 2020, down from £26.2m in the previous year as it was hit by the Covid sell-off.
Omnis, the investment arm of The Openwork Partnership, has more than £9bn assets under management with two dedicated emerging market equity funds, the Omnis Global Emerging Markets Equity Opportunities Fund and the Omnis Global Emerging Markets Equity Leaders Fund.
