Jupiter Fund beats profit view, CEO says clients returning to risky assets

By Eva Mathews

(Reuters) - Britain's Jupiter Fund Management reported better-than-expected annual profit on Thursday, helped by firm institutional client demand, and said 2024 had started off on a better note with investors opening up to riskier assets.

Shares in the FTSE 250 company climbed more than 6% to 88 pence, their highest level since Jan. 8.

CEO Matthew Beesley said since the beginning of the year, there has been "a very marked shift in tone by clients wanting to look at risk assets".

Active asset managers have struggled in recent years after the end of the bull market that buoyed their investments for over a decade.

Investors have also flocked to cheaper passive funds, while the market volatility caused by geopolitical conflict and high UK inflation made retail investors shun 'risk assets' in favour of the relatively high yields available on cash and cash-like instruments.

Jupiter saw net outflows of 2.2 billion pounds for the year ended Dec. 31. However, steady institutional demand has been a bright spot, with inflows amounting to 1.8 billion pounds.

The company said profit rose 36% to 105.2 million pounds for the year, well above analysts' expectations of 91.5 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus.

The pressures from quantitative easing and its "somewhat indiscriminate impact" on asset price inflation are turning and volatility within sectors is rising, Beesley said.

The dispersion of returns is also increasing, which ultimately creates a pretty fertile environment for the active management industry, he added.

($1 = 0.7905 pounds)

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng)