Jupiter shares up as it vows to curb spending to beat bond meltdown

Fund manager Jupiter took the bond market meltdown on the chin last year after taking a knife to costs.

Shares in the company rose 8% to 365p after it promised to keep a lid on spending for 2019.

The firm axed 5% of the workforce in November and also reined in the budget for marketing and new hires.

“It’s appropriate given the current market environment,” said chief executive Maarten Slendebroek. “It will really count from the first day of 2019.”

The group has battled to stem the fall-out from rising interest rates, which led foreign investors to flee its flagship Dynamic Bond Fund after it fell in value.

Investors yanked £4.6 billion from funds last year, nearly all of the outflows coming from the jumbo bond fund. Analysts from Numis said the bond had inflows in February.

Profit before tax fell 7% to £179.2m and the special dividend was cut to 11.4p, better than expected.

Slendebroek said the special dividend is meant to reflect the ups and downs in the asset management industry.