LONDON (Reuters) – Veteran British stock-picker Richard Buxton is set to retire from Jupiter Asset Management at the end of the summer, the company said in a statement on Friday.
Over a career spanning nearly four decades Buxton became one of Britain’s highest profile fund managers, rising up the ranks in the industry through stints at Baring Asset Management and Schroders to become CEO of Old Mutual Global Investors.
Buxton led a management buyout of Old Mutual in 2017, which was later renamed Merian Global Investors and sold to Jupiter for 370 million pounds in 2020.
The fund manager also became well-known in the City of London for taking a public stance on some corporate governance issues, and cautioned against a “race to the bottom” on regulation.
Active stock-pickers have faced a tougher ride in recent years, as more investors have opted to park cash in cheaper index-tracking funds. Jupiter is among several asset managers to have scaled back its product range, under CEO Matthew Beesley.
Buxton currently runs Jupiter’s UK equities fund, the UK Alpha Fund, which will be handed over to Ed Meier and Errol Francis once he leaves the company, Jupiter said.
“It has been a pleasure and a huge privilege to have been entrusted with so many people’s long-term savings over so many years,” Buxton said.
“While I am looking forward to pursuing other interests, not least my passion for the arts, I have always said that investing is ‘in my blood.'”
(Reporting by Iain Withers; editing by David Evans)
