Jupiter boss Andrew Formica to step down after ‘extremely challenging’ period

The boss of Jupiter Fund Management Andrew Formica has announced he will retire as CEO later this year after a turbulent period at the helm of the London-listed investor.

Formica, who joined the firm from Janus Henderson in 2019, will step down as chief executive and director on 1 October and hand over the reins to the group’s current chief investment officer, Matthew Beesley.

He said that despite an “extremely challenging period for the business and markets” he was “proud” to have been at the helm.

His tenure as chief executive has been marked by heavy outflows and a plummeting share price however, with the firm averaging net outflows of £4bn a year for the past four years, as well as outflows of £1.6bn in the first quarter of the year.

The firm’s share price has plunged under his watch, shedding more than 40 per cent in the pas six months alone and leading a former Jupiter board member to write an open letter last month calling his appointment in 2019 “a mistake”.

Formica, who has been at the helm for three years, will retire in order to return to his native Australia, but will stay in the company until the middle of next year to ensure the transition is smooth.  He told Bloomberg today he now plans to “sit at the beach and do nothing”.

Beesley, who joined Jupiter in January this year, was previously the top investment official at Artemis.

Thanking him for his time at the helm, chair of Jupiter, Nichola Pease, said he “leaves with the Board’s very best wishes and we are pleased that he will remain with the business to ensure a comprehensive transition of CEO and progress a number of important strategic initiatives.”

Matthew Beesley added since joining in January he’s “been enormously impressed by the talent we have across the firm.

“We have made the right strategic changes to put Jupiter on the best trajectory to long term growth and I look forward to playing my part in delivering on our significant potential.”