Jupiter Fund Management’s assets break another record as outflows accelerate
British fund manager Jupiter reported a rise in interim profit, record inflows and assets under management, offsetting a jump in outflows from the year earlier.
Assets under management finished the six months to June 30 at £60.3bn on June 30, exceeding the £60bn mark for the first time and jumping 54 per cent from £39.2bn the year earlier.
Pretax profit rose 40 per cent to £57m, from £40.8m in the same period last year, as revenue also rose to £247.7m – 36 per cent up on the year before.
These results offset accelerated net outflows, which surged to £2.3bn, up from £2bn a year earlier. Jupiter’s mutual funds were responsible for the vast majority – £1.7bn – of these outflows.
“Outflows were concentrated in a few areas, often where performance has been robust but the asset class has not been in client demand. European Growth and UK equities remained out of favour and both saw further redemptions. Systematic strategies, excluding the Global Equity Absolute Return fund (GEAR) also saw outflows, along with the Merlin range,” the firm said in its results statement.
Jupiter chief executive Andrew Formica acknowledged it was “disappointing” to see net outflows for the half year, but that they were concentrated and driven mainly by shifting asset allocations.
“Despite the headwinds facing the business, we have delivered a robust set of results. Investment performance remains strong and we continue to deliver increasing levels of gross flows,” Formica said.
“Although we saw net outflows in the first half, we have a number of key products with strong investment performance and we are hopeful given performance and compelling market valuations that sentiment will change.”
It comes after the fund manager also reported increased net outflows at year-end in February, which surged 11 per cent to £4bn, slightly short of an expected £4.2bn.
This was largely due to redemptions as figures show the group generated gross inflows of £16.5bn, up from the £13.4bn the previous year.
The fund manager made a defensive acquisition of Merian Global Investors for £390m last July, which added £16.6bn of AUM.