In a stock exchange notice on Tuesday (9 January), the firm announced Whitmore would leave the management of the £2.1bn Jupiter UK Special Situations fund in the autumn to establish a value equities boutique.
Murphy is part of the asset manager’s value equities team and co-manages the £957.1m Jupiter Global Value Equity fund alongside Whitmore. He also assists Whitmore in the management of the £1.6bn Jupiter Income trust and the UK Special Situations fund.
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In a LinkedIn post, Murphy confirmed his departure after more than a decade at the firm, saying the trio will be seeking FCA authorisation to set up an asset management boutique focused solely on value investing.
“We have all enjoyed working at Jupiter and would not have been able to deliver the outperformance for our clients without the help of many people throughout the business. We would like to say a big thank you to all those who have helped us over the years,” he said.
“However, we believe that now is the right time to move on and we are extremely excited by the possibilities this will bring. Our ambition is to create an organisation synonymous with value investing renowned for both investment performance and client service.”
A Jupiter spokesperson declined to comment.
The trio has agreed to continue to work at Jupiter until at least the end of July, Murphy said, adding that more information about the new firm will be shared once the authorisation process is more advanced.
In a separate LinkedIn post, Claudia Ripley, who has worked as an investor director at Jupiter for more than seven years, said they will remain working closely with their clients until their departure.
“We have worked with some fantastic people and brilliant clients while at Jupiter over the years and are grateful to the company for bringing us together,” she said.
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Whitmore has agreed on certain non-competes with Jupiter for his value equities boutique, alongside industry standards.
For the first two years from his leaving date, he will not compete with the firm in relation to both the UK Equity Income sector and the non-UK open-ended UCITS market.
The firm is also engaged in discussions with the departing manager over the potential for the Jupiter Global Value unit trust to be managed by the new boutique.
