Jupiter appoints Stephen Pearson as Chief Investment Officer

8th September 2015 - Stephen Pearson, who joined Jupiter as a European equities manager in 2001, has been promoted to Chief Investment Officer.

Stephen was appointed deputy CIO in July 2012, then Head of Investments a year later, at which time he gave up running money to take on the day-to-day running of the investment team.

John Chatfeild-Roberts, who has been CIO since 2010, is stepping down from the role to focus on the management of the Merlin Portfolio range of funds. Commenting on the move, John said: “Jupiter has grown substantially and the assets managed by the Jupiter Merlin team have doubled since I became CIO in 2010. I have encouraged Stephen to take the lead on managing the investment team so it is a natural evolution for him to take on this role. As a result, I can devote my time to the job I enjoy the most: investing the Jupiter Merlin portfolios.

Darius McDermott, managing director of Chelsea, added: “This is a positive move for investors as it means the Merlin funds will have John's undivided attention. Investing is his passion.

Jupiter Merlin Balanced, Jupiter Merlin Growth and Jupiter Merlin Income are all Elite Rated by FundCalibre.

In a recent update, the Merlin team explained how the range are currently positioned: “The Merlin portfolios have been fully invested with close to the maximum exposure to equities for some time now, on the belief that the world was improving, bond yields were low and had the potential to rise as interest rates in the US and UK looked set to be raised at some point in 2015. This has been the correct way to be positioned for some time, resulting in all of the Merlin funds performing well in their relevant sectors year-to-date (as at the end of July). This positioning has obviously resulted in the portfolios being impacted by the recent volatility but, we have been very pleased with the performance of a number of our largest holdings including Woodford Equity Income and Findlay Park American. The reduction in our weighting towards Asian and Emerging Market equities completed around 18 months ago has also been of significant benefit this year. Having said that, in Asia where the turmoil has been particularly acute, First State Asia Pacific Leaders and Prusik Asian Income have both held up well compared with the broader market.”