Jupiter: ‘Mixed update’ for asset manager amid market volatility
Jupiter Fund Management saw assets fall by £1bn over the first three months of 2025, after funds were hit by investor withdrawals and market volatility.
The stock price of the asset manager dipped two per cent this morning following the publication of what Investec described as “mixed” quarterly results.
Analysts had been expecting Jupiter to keep assets under management stable, but an unexpected £500m in market losses and an expected £500m in investor withdrawals brought assets to £44.3bn.
The largest hit to performance came from the firm’s retail, wholesale and investment trust arm, which saw assets under management fall six per cent thanks to £900m in negative market returns.
“Negative net flows and investment returns within retail, wholesale and investment trusts came as relatively unexpected given wider newsflow in the sector over recent weeks,” said Investec analyst Jens Ehrenberg.
However, the saving grace for Jupiter was its strong institutional performance, with assets rising 22 per cent to £7.8bn, five per cent higher than had been expected by analysts.
The institutional success was driven by funding of a large mandate within Jupiter’s systematic equities arm, as well as its acquisition of boutique asset manager Origin at the start of the year.
In the trading update, Jupiter also revealed that its assets under management had fallen further to £43bn as of 22 April, thanks to elevated levels of market volatility across all asset classes.
Peel Hunt analysts Stuart Duncan and Stephen Payne said the trading update showed that Jupiter had been “more resilient than many peers”, some of which had lost billions due to poor market performance.
“Although this market environment presents obvious challenges, increased volatility, higher dispersions of returns and a break-down in market correlations should, over the medium term, be a more favourable environment for high conviction, truly active management to evidence its value proposition,” said the firm.