Jupiter loses $13 billion in assets as client outflows accelerate

Adds shares in para 1, 5 & 11, CEO quote in 8-9, details on SJP and background throughout

By Yamini Kalia

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Britain's Jupiter Fund Management JUP.L lost more than a tenth of its assets in the fourth quarter after clients pulled 10.3 billion pounds ($13.04 billion), a bigger-than-expected exodus that sent the company's shares down more than 5%.

Jupiter has lost clients since star manager Ben Whitmore left the company in January last year to launch an independent boutique.

The outflows reported on Thursday left Jupiter's assets under management down 13% from a year earlier at 45.3 billion pounds.

Jupiter, which like other mid-sized asset managers has been struggling to keep hold of clients, also reported a 7% decline in annual profit.

Analysts at Barclays said the outflows were worse than expected in the final quarter of the year. Jupiter shares recovered some early losses and were down 3.7% at 1020 GMT. They have fallen about 10% since the start of the year.

The London-based manager posted underlying profit before tax of 97.5 million pounds for the year ended December 31, compared with the 105.2 million pounds reported last year.

In contrast, St James's Place SJP.L, another UK-based money manager, beat analysts' expectations on Thursday and reported a 14% jump in its full-year post-tax cash result.

Mark FitzPatrick, CEO of St James's Place, told Reuters that given the increasing volatility in global geopolitics and economies, more and more people were thinking about their financial planning.

"Notwithstanding all the volatility in the markets and volatility of budgets and rule changes, people need advice more now than ever," said FitzPatrick.

St James's Place posted post-tax underlying cash result of 447.2 million pounds for the year ended December 2024, versus the 392.4 million pounds reported last year.

Shares of St James's Place, which have gained about 25% since the start of 2025, were down 3.7% at 1,089 pence by 0923 GMT.

UK wealth manager Brooks Macdonald reported on Thursday that its funds under management rose to 15.7 billion pounds by December 31, 2024 from 15.1 billion pounds a year earlier.

($1 = 0.7900 pounds)