Long-serving Jupiter fund manager Ben Whitmore, who looks after around £10bn, is leaving the firm to start his own boutique fund management business.

Mr Whitmore has been with Jupiter since 2006 after joining them from Schroders.

He manages the Jupiter UK Special Situations Fund (AUM £2.1bn), as well as the Jupiter Income Trust (AUM £1.6bn), Jupiter Global Value Unit Trust (AUM £1.0bn) and Jupiter Global Value SICAV (AUM £0.5bn), and segregated mandates with a further £4.8bn of AUM.

He will remain with Jupiter until at least the end of July 2024.

The company and Mr Whitmore have agreed that his new boutique, once established, will not compete with Jupiter for two years from his leaving date in relation to both the UK Equity Income sector and the non-UK open-ended UCITS market. 

Jupiter is also in discussions with Mr Whitmore to establish whether the new boutique firm could manage the Jupiter Global Value Unit Trust as a delegated investment manager of Jupiter.

Jupiter has recruited Alex Savvides from JO Hambro Capital Management to manage its UK Special Situations Fund. At JO Hambro he currently manages around £2.3bn.

He has managed JO Hambro’s £1.3bn UK Dynamic Fund since its inception in June 2008 as well as a further £1bn in segregated mandates. Mr Savvides is expected to join Jupiter by the Autumn of 2024.

Last November Jupiter announced the appointment of Adrian Gosden and Chris Morrison (who have since joined the company) and that they would assume management responsibilities for the Jupiter Income Trust.

Matthew Beesley, chief executive, Jupiter Asset Management, said: "Since I joined Jupiter in January 2022, we have been working very hard to ensure that we have a pipeline of new hires which can both broaden our range of truly differentiated strategies and ensure orderly succession.

“Ben informed me of his ambition to set up a new independent value equities boutique which has been a long-term personal aspiration for him. I would like to thank him sincerely for his contribution to the company and, after he leaves Jupiter, wish him well for the future.”  

Alex Savvides said: "Special situations and value investing underpin my investment philosophy. The UK market offers considerable opportunities for patient, motivated and disciplined investors to produce good investment returns."

In a trading update Jupiter reported that, “a delay in the funding of some institutional mandates combined with weaker than anticipated retail sentiment in October and November 2023 has led to an incrementally more negative flow outcome than we had anticipated.”

It said total net outflows for 2023 were now expected to be £2.2bn. Full details will be published with the firm’s full year 2023 results on 22 February.