Slendebroek out, Formica in as CEO of Jupiter Fund Management

Jupiter Fund Management announced on Tuesday that Maarten Slendebroek would be stepping down as chief executive officer and as a director of the company, with effect from 1 March.

The FTSE 250 firm said it intended to appoint Andrew Formica as its new chief executive officer and as a director with effect from that time, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

It said Slendebroek had agreed to remain in the business until 1 May, to ensure a smooth leadership transition and handover.

Ensuring that appropriate succession planning was in place for the leadership team was “one of the most important roles” for the board, it said.

It explained that it had envisaged that any transition in CEO would most likely occur over the next couple of years, and in developing its succession plans, it had identified Formica as a potential successor.

In light of his availability at the current point in time, the board had decided - with the support of Slendebroek - to accelerate those plans.

With his “depth of experience”, the board said it regarded Formica as an “outstanding candidate”, ideally equipped to lead the company in the next phase of its development.

Andrew Formica was, until 2018, the co-CEO of Janus Henderson Group, and was previously the chief executive of Henderson Group between 2008 and its merger with Janus Capital in 2017.

He was at Henderson from 1998, and had held various senior roles, joining the company's executive committee in 2004.

Prior to being appointed chief executive, he served as joint managing director of the listed assets business from September 2006, and as head of equities from September 2004.

In the early part of his career, he was an equity manager and analyst for Henderson.

Formica was the deputy chairman of the board of the Investment Association until September 2018, and had served as a non-executive director of Hammerson since November 2015.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Maarten and pay tribute to his significant achievements for this firm, especially following his appointment as chief executive in 2014,” said Jupiter Fund Management chairman Liz Airey.

“Maarten was the driving force behind our successful diversification strategy which has taken this firm to a new level, growing substantially from a predominantly UK-focused equities business to one that is today broadly diversified by asset class, geography and channel.”

Airey said he was handing over the business in “very good shape”, and would leave in due course with the board’s “very best” wishes.

“We are delighted to have secured someone of Andrew's calibre to succeed Maarten and are particularly appreciative of Maarten agreeing to step down early and remain for a handover period to work with Andrew to ensure a smooth transition.”

Maarten Slendebroek added that it had been “a privilege” to lead Jupiter over the last five years, with the company going “from strength to strength” as it delivered against its strategic ambitions.

“I am particularly pleased that we continued to deliver for our clients, even in more recent times of market volatility, where we maintained strong investment performance after all fees.

“Much has been achieved and so this is the right time for me to hand over.

“The business is in excellent health and I wish my colleagues every success for the future and look forward to working with Andrew on the transition of responsibilities.”

Andrew Formica described Jupiter as a “tremendous firm”, saying he had been impressed by its people and investment culture.

“I am excited by the firm's successful diversification strategy and look forward to helping it develop its increasingly global franchise.

“Jupiter's relentless focus on delivering value to clients through genuinely active investing means it is well positioned to succeed in an evolving industry.”

Formica said the company’s track record of strong investment performance for clients had enabled it to deliver “significant” organic growth, delivering cumulative net flows of around £5.8bn over the last six years.

“I look forward to working with all of my new colleagues at Jupiter and believe the company's growth prospects are strong.”