Jupiter is rebranding Guy de Blonay’s International Financials fund and removing its performance fee amid significant outperformance against its benchmark during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Sicav version of de Blonay’s fund was repositioned and rebranded in 2018 to include more disruptive companies rather than sticking solely to traditional banks and financial services businesses.
Now the £48.9m UK-domiciled unit trust will also be renamed, becoming the Jupiter Global Financial Innovation fund, with its investment objective and policy also updated to reflect the increased focus on fintech.
A Jupiter spokesperson said the repositioning of the unit trust had been an evolutionary process.
Fairview Investing consultant Ben Yearsley said a financials sell would be a hard sell at the moment due to banks being a “value trap”, regulators restricting dividends in the financials sector and the prospect of rates remaining lower for longer.
The fund has seen net outflows of £20.7m over the last two years, with only three months of net inflows during that period, according to Morningstar data.
The Jupiter International Financials fund, as it’s still known, has significantly outperformed its MSCI ACWI Financials benchmark during the coronavirus pandemic, returning 2.6% compared to a loss of 19.1% in the index.
Performance of the Jupiter International Financials fund over five years
Source: FE Fundinfo
Yearsley said the combination of fintech and traditional financials would allow the fund to perform at different times during the cycle. “If you focus on fintech it will be much more high-growth tech play. That will work well as rates have plummeted and then vice versa for banks and financials.”
In a statement, de Blonay said Covid-19 has accelerated an “irreversible digital evolution” that had already been gaining pace in the financial services sector. “Consumer preference towards working from home, e-commerce, e-services and mobile banking has likely changed for good, and we want to ensure we continue to be well placed to benefit from this evolution in the industry.”
Jupiter CIO Stephen Pearson said: “Having repositioned the Jupiter Financial Innovation Fund two years ago, we view this rename as the natural next step, bringing the fund into line with the broader strategy and providing greater transparency for our investors.
“While clients can rest assured that how their fund is managed will not change, we hope these updates make the fund’s aims clearer for all.”
