Andrew Formica, the CEO of Jupiter Fund Management, suddenly announced that he is resigning from the $68 billion fund management giant to “sit at the beach and do nothing”. Formica who joined the firm in 2019 will vacate his position on October 1, Bloomberg reported citing a company statement. He would also step down as Director of the investment firm.
Formica, 51, said that he has decided to quit due to personal reasons. He wishes to move back to his home country of Australia to be with his elderly parents. He has lived in the UK for three decades. “I just want to go sit at the beach and do nothing. I’m not thinking about anything else,” he said.
Who is Andrew Formica?
Before joining Jupiter, Formica led the 2017 merger between US fund company Janus and UK-based Henderson. Clients have reportedly pulled cash from Jupiter for four years in a row and the firm has seen an outflow of £1.6 billion in the first quarter of the year.
Formica joined Jupiter from Janus Henderson Group Plc, where he had orchestrated the merger between US fund house Janus and UK firm Henderson in 2017. He lost out in a leadership battle at Janus Henderson in 2018 to Dick Weil, his co-CEO after the combination.
Clients have pulled cash from Jupiter for four years in a row and the firm has failed to stem the outflows this year. In the first three months of the year, investors yanked another £1.6 billion, according to its latest earnings report.
Chief Investment Officer of Jupiter to take over as the new CEO
Matthew Beesley, Chief Investment Officer of Jupiter, would take over as the new CEO in October. Formica will remain in the business until the end of June 2023. Beesley joined Jupiter in January this year as CIO and was previously CIO at Artemis Investment Management. The board looked at external candidates as well before settling on Beesley, Formica said in the interview.
Beesley doesn’t plan to change the firm’s strategy, he said in a telephone interview after the announcement. Though he will give more details about his intentions when he takes over at Jupiter. Jupiter hasn’t yet settled on a replacement CIO, he added.