Jupiter poaches superstar fund guru Guy de Blonay from rival Henderson
JUPITER Asset Management has scored a coup by poaching superstar fund manager Guy de Blonay from arch-rival Henderson New Star.
De Blonay, who manages the £177.9m New Star Global Financials fund, will join Jupiter early next year, initially in an advisory capacity.
He will ultimately become a fund manager, working with Jupiter’s Philip Gibbs, whose £1.4bn Financial Opportunities Fund returned seven per cent over 2008 in one of the worst years on record for the industry.
Broker Chelsea Financial Services instantly downgraded the New Star Global Financials fund, which will now be run by assistant manager Emily Adderson, to “hold”. Managing director Darius McDermott said the news raised concerns about integration at Henderson, which bought New Star in January. “It leaves a major dent in their retail ambitions,” he said.
This will be the second stint at Jupiter for de Blonay, whose aristocratic family owns an ancestral castle near Geneva. He formerly worked as an analyst at the group for six years before joining New Star in 2001.