Jupiter chair Nichola Pease steps down for ‘personal reasons’

Jupiter Fund Management’s non-executive chair Nichola Pease is stepping down with immediate effect for “personal reasons” after three years in the role, leading to a broader reshuffle of the board.

Pease’s sudden departure comes just ahead of the FTSE 250 asset manager’s annual meeting next month and is likely to raise questions from shareholders about the reasons for her exit.

The company has had a rocky year with a dividend cut and a falling share price. Shares dropped 2 per cent to 129.9p by Wednesday lunchtime and have fallen 30 per cent over the past 12 months.

“The share price has tumbled on her watch, the dividend has been cut, and an activist investor wrote an open letter saying performance was terrible. It seems her position was becoming increasingly untenable,” one analyst said.

People familiar with the situation insisted her departure was because of personal reasons.

Pease, who was married to hedge fund manager Crispin Odey until recently, joined Jupiter in early 2020, having previously held roles as a non-executive director at Schroders and as chief executive of JO Hambro Capital Management.

The move has triggered a series of changes on the Jupiter board. David Cruickshank, a non-executive director, will replace Pease as chair and will also oversee the nomination committee.

Karl Sternberg will take on the role of chair of the audit and risk committee on an interim basis. Roger Yates, senior independent director, will also join this committee.

Jupiter said it had started a search for a permanent chair of the audit and risk board and was seeking at least one new independent non-executive director.

Pease oversaw the integration of Merian Global Investors during her tenure at Jupiter, which the business acquired for £370mn in 2020 when Andrew Formica was chief executive of the group.

The business came under fire last year when fund industry dealmaker Jon Little wrote to Pease claiming that Jupiter had “lost its way” and must change its management, noting that Formica had “failed to deliver”.

Pease, who traces her family roots back to the founders of Barclays bank, has championed diversity in the asset management industry, having established social enterprise group Investment 20/20.

Jupiter’s Yates said: “Nichola was appointed to the board in 2020 and has led the company through the integration of Merian Global Investors, against a backdrop of the global pandemic, and the transition to a new chief executive last year.”

Her departure comes as Jupiter has undergone a restructuring under chief executive Matthew Beesley, who stepped up to the role from chief investment officer last October.

Under Beesley, Jupiter has merged or closed a number of smaller funds and has cut headcount to help reduce costs.

Another analyst said: “There’s a changing of the guard. Bringing in someone new would be helpful in taking a fresh look at the business at this time.”

The fund group said in a quarterly update this week that net inflows from institutional customers amounted to £100mn in the first three months of the year, although retail clients withdrew £1bn.

Last year, former chief executive Edward Bonham Carter announced his departure from the asset manager after almost three decades at the company. His last role was focused on stewardship and corporate responsibility.