Maarten Slendebroek takes the helm at fund management group Jupiter after Edward Bonham Carter steps down to become deputy chairman

By

Ruth Sunderland

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Fund management group Jupiter is moving into a new phase on Monday, when Maarten Slendebroek takes over as chief executive from industry stalwart Edward Bonham Carter.

During the 14 years he has been  at the helm, Bonham Carter has become almost synonymous with Jupiter, leading its buyout from German group Commerzbank in 2007 and its stock market float three years later in 2010.

He is not quitting, but moving into a new executive role as deputy chairman, and will remain a sizeable shareholder.

New role: Maarten Slendebroek will succeed Edward Bonham Carter as group chief executive of Jupiter Fund Management on March 17th 2014.

Neither he nor Slendebroek, a former executive of US fund giant BlackRock, are directly involved in investing savers’ money.

But the new chief executive does have the possibly trickier job of managing the fund managers – a number of whom  are also major shareholders, with around a fifth of the equity in the hands of staff.

Being in charge of a cadre of very bright and sometimes highly-strung individuals, with your predecessor still on the board watching your every move, might daunt even the most seasoned executive.

The stakes are high: If the fund managers are unhappy, then the company’s biggest assets could simply walk out, taking loyal investors with them – as happened at Invesco Perpetual, where the departure of star manager Neil Woodford led to a drain of investors.

Slendebroek, who is of Swedish and Dutch extraction, has been  at Jupiter for a year as dis- tribution and strategy director, in order to ease the transition. If he is feeling apprehensive, it does not show. 

‘Will Edward be a back seat driver? No. By nature he is more non-executive than executive,’ Slendebroek says.

‘I have worked with fund managers since 1987, so I have known some true lunatics.

‘For me, this is the most interesting part of the job.’

Outgoing: Edward Bonham Carter, has been at the helm of Jupiter for 14 years

His mission is to take Jupiter to the next stage of its development, expanding into Europe and beyond. ‘Jupiter is a firm that is really good at what it does, but is possibly narrow in its product range and narrow in its distribution,’ he says. ‘The world is a big place.’

Leading financial adviser Darius McDermott of Chelsea Financial Services says he is ‘relaxed’ about the changeover.

‘Overseas expansion makes sense, but that will not have a direct effect on UK retail investors. What matters to them is how well Slendebroek performs at managing the managers.

‘On that score, there has been a smooth transition and there is no evidence it will lead to a deterioration in performance due to tensions in the group.’

Slendebroek, 52, studied law at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and arrived in London to work as a financial analyst in 1987, shortly after the ‘Big Bang’ reforms that revolutionised the City. A committed Anglophile and Arsenal supporter, he lives in Hampstead, North London, with his wife and three sons.

The asset management industry has seen some big deals recently, but Slendebroek says the key to preserving Jupiter’s identity and culture in the next stage of its development is for it to grow organically, rather than through large takeover deals.

‘The most difficult cultural adjustment is when you make acquisitions. Organic growth is our preferred path,’ he says.

‘Never say never, but we think we can maintain the culture if we grow at a reasonable pace organically.’

He is taking over a group that looks in good shape. Just under 70 per cent of its mutual fund assets delivered above median performance over the past few years, and assets under management have hit a record of just under £32billion.

The shares have risen from 165p at the float to more than 400p.

Jupiter is now debt free and sitting on £160million of net cash. Any surplus generated from now on, Slendebroek says, will be returned to investors.

That is good news for his colleagues, who along with retail savers, will be banking on him to keep Jupiter in the right orbit.

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Maarten Slendebroek takes the helm at fund management group Jupiter after Edward Bonham Carter steps down to become deputy chairman