Newton Asian Income (GB00B0MY6Z69) manager Jason Pidcock has quit the house for Jupiter in a surprise exit following eight years at the helm of the fund, which we count among our IC Top 100 Funds.
Mr Pidcock will join Jupiter later this year and take up a role building an Asian income strategy for the fund house, beefing up its current growth and multi-cap strategies in the emerging markets range. The fund house has implied it will be launching a new product for him: Stephen Pearson, head of investments at Jupiter said the hire would give Jupiter "the ability to provide clients with a broader range of products to suit their investment objectives."
Newton will now combine its emerging and Asian equity teams under manager Rob Marshall-Lee. The Asian Income fund will be taken under the wing of the Newton Emerging and Asian equity team, which will move away from being run by a manager and alternative manager, and instead by put under the aegis of a team led by Mr Marshall-Lee.
The move could spark outflows from the mammoth £4.4bn Newton Asian Income Fund, which Mr Pidcock launched in 2005, with certain stock brokers understood to have already taken it off their lists. Chelsea Financial Services is already understood to have removed it from their list of Elite-rated Funds.
Mr Pearson said: "We have been working to develop our expertise in emerging markets for some time, most notably through the recent recruitment of Ross Teverson as head of strategy, global emerging markets.
"Jason's focus on a combination of income and growth, typically found among large capitalisation stocks across the Asia Pacific region, will add a new dimension to our offering."
Mr Pidcock said: "Jupiter is respected by investors and peers for its strong focus on delivering value. The dividend culture is becoming well established across Asia Pacific, and a Jupiter fund offering attractive total returns over the long term should be an appealing proposition for clients. I very much look forward to working with the team to help build this new strategy."
Mr Pidcock's Asian fund posted stellar results in its early years but performance dropped in 2013, when the fund fell by 0.74 per cent. Advisers have pointed to a lack of exposure to Chinese banks and a dip in the Australian currency as reasons for his recent underperformance.
However, it remains one of the most popular Asian income funds on the market and has delivered strong performance and high income over the long term.
Simon Pryke, chief investment officer at Newton Investment Management, said: "Newton's process has been successfully built around the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. In Rob, we have a very strong leader bringing together two complementary and collaborative investment teams who have always shared investment ideas. Emerging and Asian equities are significant parts of Newton's business and we are committed to delivering performance for our clients and growing assets in these strategies."
