Talib Sheikh, co-manager of the £958 million Morningstar Bronze Rated JPM Global Macro Opportunities Fund, will leave JPMorgan to join Jupiter Asset Management as head of multi-asset strategy.
Talib will join Jupiter in June and chief investment officer Stephen Pearson says he will spearhead the firm's strategic initiative to expand its international multi-asset footprint.
The JPM Global Macro Opportunities fund will now be run by existing portfolio managers James Eliot and Shrenick Shah, with no change to their investment process.
Sheikh, who has been with JPMorgan for 20 years, co-managed a number of other multi-asset funds for the firm. Just three weeks ago, it was announced he would lead the JPMorgan Multi-Asset Investment Trust, to be launched at the end of February.
Now, that remit will be taken over by his designated co-managers, Katy Thorneycroft and Gareth Witcomb. JPMorgan said all other existing portfolio managers for the funds Sheikh was named on would continue.
The company said it had been “delighted by the initial response” its new trust offering had received. Shareholders in the JPMorgan Income & Capital Trust (JPI), which is to be terminated, can either roll their holding over into the new vehicle or liquidate their shares for cash.
Morningstar Analyst View by Randal Goldsmith
As of Wednesday February 14, portfolio manager Talib Sheikh has resigned from the JPMorgan Business. Co-portfolio managers James Elliot and Shrenick Shah continue their work on the JPMorgan Global Macro Opportunities fund.
Sheikh’s main focus on this strategy was fixed income, and he held other portfolio management responsibilities, including named co-management of the JPM Multi-Asset Income fund.
The managers are supported by a global macro team that includes other fixed income specialists and economists, and also draw ideas from other teams within JPM’s business. Currently the portfolio has very little exposure to fixed income strategies, but the investment approach has historically shown active and aggressive re-positioning at times.
So we find it prudent to put this strategy Under Review until we have assessed the full implications of this development on the team dynamic. It was previously Bronze rated.