Jupiter UK Growth Investment Trust (JUKG) is considering changing manager or investment approach due to poor performance over the past three years.
In April 2016, the trust appointed Steve Davies of Jupiter Asset Management to run its portfolio and changed its investment policy to focus on “UK growth and recovery investment opportunities”. But between then and the end of June 2019 the trust fell 0.3 per cent, putting it 34.3 per cent behind its benchmark, the FTSE All-Share index.
The trust's board acknowledged that this was a difficult period for managers who focus on domestic-facing UK stocks, such as Mr Davies. But Tom Bartlam, chairman of Jupiter UK Growth, said: “Having expressed our growing concerns to the investment adviser, Jupiter, in a number of meetings over the past year, in the absence of any improvement we have come to the conclusion that our strategy is not working and needs to be changed. We have been actively engaging with Jupiter and our broker Numis Securities to identify alternative arrangements that could better serve the interests of shareholders. These include the adoption of an alternative investment approach for the company from within the Jupiter group and a potential appointment from another fund management company. The outcome of these ongoing discussions will be announced in due course.”
This comes as ScotGems (SGEM), a global small-cap equity trust launched in 2017, loses two investment managers. Its board announced on 25 September that lead manager Ashish Swarup has resigned from Stewart Investors, the company that runs the trust’s portfolio. Tom Prew assumed the role of lead manager with immediate effect, with Tom Allen continuing as co-manager. However on 3 October the board said that Mr Allen had also handed in his notice so it is considering “a full range of options for the company’s portfolio”.
