Jupiter has poached Wayne Mepham from Schroders to take on the role as chief financial officer with a £300k base salary, as it continues its management changes under the new CEO, Andrew Formica.
Mepham (pictured), who joins from Schroders after nine years as global head of finance, is a qualified chartered accountant with over 23 years’ experience. Prior to Schroders, Mepham held a number of senior roles at PwC where he worked with many of the firm’s asset management, insurance and banking clients.
At Jupiter, he will take on the role as CFO with an annual salary of £300k but it could go up to £1.77m with the addition of 15% pension, a maximum bonus of 250% of salary and long term incentive plan (LTIP) of 225% of his salary.
This appointment follows the announcement in February of Charlotte Jones’ decision to step down from her role to take up the position of CFO at RSA Insurance Group plc. Jones will remain with Jupiter until 30 July 2019 and Mepham is expected to take on the role on September 2nd, subject to regulatory approvals.
Formica makes his mark at Jupiter
Formica said Mepham has a long track record in financial services and “in particular, has deep experience of the asset management industry from both a domestic and global perspective”. He touted his experience in technical accounting, regulation and commercial development.
Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, said he expected more staff changes at Jupiter. “This is a continuation of the changes being put in place by new CEO Andrew Formica as Jupiter looks to construct his team to drive the business forward and follows on the back of the appointment of Phil Wagstaff.
Wagstaff joins as global head of distribution from Janus Henderson in a move announced this week.
Last month, Jupiter also nabbed Mark Heslop and Mark Nichols from Columbia Threadneedle.
Transparency over pay welcomed
Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services, said when Jupiter announced Andrew Formica’s arrival they disclosed his salary “so now it seems to be becoming standard behaviour”. Formica has a based salary of £445,000 with a maximum annual bonus capped of 425% and LTIP worth £1.39m (375%), meaning his total pay package could reach £2m for 2019.
“Jupiter is a listed asset management company and they are being very transparent, which is to be applauded. We expect to see greater push internationally for Jupiter,” McDermott said.
Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at Willis Owen, said Mepham’s appointment to the board and executive committee could be the reason for disclosing the salary.
Lowcock said Mepham’s appointment is a strong hire for Jupiter.
“Jupiter have made a series of hire’s in recent months, some through necessity and some through planning. Some of this is natural as new leadership is always likely to lead to some changes as well as bringing opportunities for some.”
“Andrew Formica has shown he is able to attract some strong staff and make decisions to lead the business forward.”
