Elena Shaftan, who yesterday announced her decision to retire from Jupiter after 13 years, retains her status as one of the pioneers in this space in the modern retail market though it’s clear her Emerging European Opportunities Fund has struggled.
Since launch in late 2002 the fund has delivered a total return in sterling terms of over 250%, according to FE Analytics data, though it has struggled since 2010 (over three years, it is down 30%). More damning, it has failed to beat the benchmark MSCI EM Europe 10/40 over three, five and 10 years, and since launch.
Of course, Shaftan is not the only manager who has failed to deliver in emerging Europe, with most GEM fund managers underweight the region, especially Russia which accounts for around 60% of the Jupiter fund.
While marketed as a best ideas portfolio of “around 30 of the very best money making opportunities in the region”, the fund had closer to 45 stocks at the end of last year. Still, under Shaftan’s stewardship it has remained very concentrated and while this means it has deviated from the index, poor performance has been magnified.
“We were very early supporters of the fund when it first launched and the big story was the accession in the EU of Czech Republic and Poland which was a big stimulus, while half the fund or thereabouts is always in Russia,” says Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services.
“In the first few years Shaftan did outperform with strong absolute returns, but in the past five years it has been more hit and miss. There was also the departure of her co-manager Ingrid Kukuljan who left last year.”
The pressure is now on Kathryn Langridge who joins regional specialist Colin Croft as co manager of this fund and Jupiter’s New Europe vehicle, though her Global Emerging Markets Fund has also failed to deliver a positive return since launch in 2010.
