As head of equities at Jupiter Asset Management, Kiran Nandra has a broad remit overseeing investment teams, strategic leadership and ensuring investment managers deliver on client expectations.
And with increasing uncertainty in global stockmarkets, and some personnel changes across teams, there have been a number of challenges to overcome these past few years. But that, Nandra says, is what keeps her motivated.
“No two days are the same, which is one of the things I love about my role,” Nandra says. “It’s a rare position where EQ is just as important as IQ. It’s about understanding not just the technical aspects of investing, but also what makes people tick.”
She is referring to the firm’s investment culture where there is no top-down steer from a chief investment officer, but instead individual teams have the autonomy to execute their strategies as they see fit, while also drawing upon the resources and ideas from across the business.
“There’s a big focus on risk and a lot of what we do is very active – we have portfolio managers taking super-high-conviction, differentiated positions,” she explains.
Raising the bar
While the teams have this autonomy, collaboration is encouraged by Nandra, especially around sharing best practice. “We’re constantly looking to raise the bar,” she says. “We have several mechanisms for sharing best practice, whether it’s through our research management system ensuring transparency in due diligence or our bi-weekly equities investor meetings.”
These meetings provide a platform for investment teams to discuss themes ranging from semiconductors to portfolio construction, offering cross-team insights, while the firm also runs initiatives such as the Investment Analyst Forum, designed to give younger investors exposure to different market cycles and experiences.
“Many haven’t lived through scenarios like the global financial crisis, so learning from those who have is invaluable,” she adds.
Additionally, the team have had to adjust to a number of personnel changes following significant restructuring of the equity franchise. Ben Whitmore and his value team left Jupiter in October 2024 to set up Brickwood Asset Management, while Richard Buxton also retired last year.
Further, members of the UK small and mid-cap equities team, Richard Watts and Nick Williamson, also left to set up an independent boutique when Jupiter parted ways with the Chrysalis Investment Trust.
The shifts have taken their toll: company results reported in February 2025 showed £10.3bn in outflows for 2024, driven largely by investors pulling assets from the value strategies.
However, Jupiter has been out attracting some top-class talent to take over these offerings.
Alex Savvides, Stephanie Geary and Siddharth Sukumar were hired from JO Hambro to head up the Jupiter UK Special Situations fund, which was renamed the Jupiter UK Dynamic Equity fund in October 2024, to reflect Alex Savvides’s long-standing investment strategy and continuity with his investment management approach.
Meanwhile, Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison are the new managers responsible for running the Jupiter UK equity income franchise.
Read the rest of this article in the April issue of Portfolio Adviser magazine