Jupiter CEO Edward Bonham Carter has stepped down from running Jupiter Undervalued Assets following poor performance. Patrick Harrington was named the new manager. Bonham Carter had been at the helm since 2000 and drove the fund to strong returns over his eight-year tenure. The fund returned 1.3% per year annualised, while its average peer in the Morningstar UK Large-Cap Value Equity category shed 1.1%. But, the fund struggled in 2007 and 2
008. In 2008, it lost 34% and landed in the bottom quartile of its category.
Harrington joined Jupiter this month with a wealth of experience acquired over 20 years in the industry. Prior to Jupiter, Harrington worked at OLIM Ltd managing institutional mandates and the equity income component of the Value & Income Trust Plc. He also co-managed CF OLIM UK Equity . During his tenure (September 2005- September 2008), he helped amass a competitive record – the fund delivered 6.7% in annualised returns per year. This put the fund two percentage points ahead of the Morningstar category norm. Prior to OLIM, Harrington was Director of UK Retail Equity Income funds Henderson and from 1988-2001 he worked at M&G. There he ran M&G Dividend, M&G Charifund, M&G Extra Income and M&G High Yield Distribution.
Invesco Perpetual launches Global Equity Income fund
Invesco Perpetual has this week launched a Global Equity Income fund which is designed to draw on the best ideas of its UK, European, US, Japanese, Asian and Emerging Markets teams. The fund will be managed by Paul Boyne who joined the firm’s global equities team in October 2008. The unconstrained fund will invest in 60-100 global stocks and has a target dividend yield above that of the MSCI World. Prior to joining Invesco, Boyne was deputy CIO at Bank of Ireland and head of global equities. He also worked at Morgan Stanley for twelve years and became managing director and senior portfolio manager of their Global Value Equity strategy.
New Star’s Steer heads to Artemis
Tim Steer, manager of New Star UK Alpha and UK Gemini hedge fund, will be leaving the firm to join Artemis at the completion of the Henderson acquisition next month. This comes as a disappointment to Henderson as the manager has built a strong record for the UK Alpha fund over his tenure. Although the fund struggled last year, since inception it returned 1.6% per year annualised while its average category peer delivered 0.8% over the same period. However, the fund also exhibited much higher volatility relative to peers. Steer will be joining Artemis’s multi-cap team which manages Artemis UK Special Situations and Artemis UK Smaller Companies . He will also manage a hedge fund.
Rathbone renames Income and Growth fund
Rathbone has this week renamed its Income and Growth fund to Rathbone Blue Chip Income and Growth to highlight the portfolio’s focus on companies in the FTSE 100 index. The fund will also be moved to the IMA UK Equity Income and Growth sector, which, oddly for a sector with "income" in its name, has a below-market minimum yield criteria (funds must yield at least 90% of the FTSE All Share yield over 12 months).
The fund has been managed by Julian Chillingworth since August 2002. Over his tenure, the fund has delivered 3.6% per year annualised versus a 1.7% for the Morningstar UK Large-Cap Value Equity category norm. The fund’s volatility was also in line with the average for the category.
Morningstar qualitative ratings and reports issued This Week
Morningstar issued new qualitative ratings and reports on a number of funds available to UK investors this week, including Fidelity Funds - European Blue Chip, Schroder UK Mid 250, Schroder Tokyo and F&C North American. Click here to see the full list.
