MARKET REPORT: Star inventory picker’s exit casts gloom on Jupiter

The departure of a star stock picker was evident in results from Jupiter Fund Management, which showed outflows accelerating in the first six months of the year.

The FTSE 250-listed investment group reported total net outflows of £3.4billion in the six months to the end of June, up from £2.2billion at the end of last year.

Of that, £2.4billion came from value funds managed by departing Ben Whitmore, who is starting his own boutique firm, Brickwood Asset Management, having been widely regarded as one of the best fund managers in the Square Mile.

Jupiter’s total assets under management were below analysts’ expectations to £51.3billion, down from £51.4billion a year earlier.

However, half-year pre-tax profits rose 11 per cent to £38.7m which helped Jupiter jump 6.8 per cent, or 5.6p to 88.1p. Also on the investments front, hedge fund manager Man Group gained 3.5 per cent, or 8.8p to 259.6p after a rise in assets under management to a record £138.5bn in the six months to the end of June, beating expectations.

Following a roller-coaster week, the FTSE 100 was 1.2 per cent, or 99.36 points, higher at 8285.71.

The FTSE 250 also bounded ahead, rising 2.3 per cent, or 471.95 points, higher to 21,356.30.

Commodity issues gave the blue-chips a lift again. Anglo American rose 5.1 per cent, or 115p, to 2380p after analysts at UBS raised their rating for the miner to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’.

But Lloyds Banking Group shed 0.03 per cent, or 0.02p, to 60.66p as analysts at RBC Capital downgraded their rating after the stock hit their unchanged 60p target.

Warehouse developer Segro was weak, losing 1.7 per cent, or 15.2p, to 892p as the property firm reported a decrease in its net asset value even as it swung to a profit in its latest six-month period and increased its interim dividend.

And property portal Rightmove fell 1.4 per cent, or 8p, to 560p as worries over the challenges of tough mortgage conditions offset resilient half-year results, with profits up 1.8 per cent to £132.6m.

Engineer IMI added 3.2 per cent, or 58p, to 1860p after reporting improved half-year earnings and announcing a £100m share buyback. And tech-focused venture capital firm Molten Ventures gained 6 per cent, or 21p, to 370p after announcing a fresh £10m share buyback programme and agreeing a new £180m debt facility.

However, Computacenter fell 0.2 per cent, or 6p, to 2660p as the computer technology and services provider expects first-half profit to be down by around 29pc from a year earlier.

Among the small caps, Rome Resources started trading on AIM following the Canadian listed tin miner’s reverse takeover of cash shell Pathfinder Minerals, gaining 10.9 per cent, or 0.03p, to 0.31p.

And Record rose 0.6 per cent, or 0.4p, to 66.9p after the currency and asset manager made a solid start to the year.

But Webis plunged 35.7 per cent, or 0.5p, to 0.9p as the gaming firm said an expected improvement in its business-to-customer segment failed to materialise.