The majority of funds originally managed by Merian Global Investors have lost the Merian name in the latest Jupiter rebrand.
Asset manager Jupiter has completed a “brand refresh” which has resulted in a new website, updated logo and the renaming of the Merian funds.
From today (February 15), Merian-branded products will take on the Jupiter name and branding. For example, the Merian UK Alpha fund will become the Jupiter UK Alpha fund.
However the Merian Systematic Equity fund range, headed by Ian Heslop and Amadeo Alentorn, will use the ‘Jupiter Merian’ prefix, so the Merian North American Equity fund is now the Jupiter Merian North American Equity fund.
All of Jupiter’s information and materials have also undergone a refresh.
Phil Wagstaff, Jupiter’s global head of distribution, said: “We are delighted to have completed this project, making it clear that we are now one business with one brand, moving forward as one.
“The Jupiter brand has a long heritage. While the essence of the brand hasn’t changed, we believe that this new visual identity builds on this established heritage while also reflecting the active, innovative, international asset management firm we are today.”
Jupiter acquired rival fund house Merian Global Investors for £370m last year.
The deal was the first significant acquisition by Jupiter chief executive Andrew Formica after he took the helm in March 2019 and saw Jupiter take on and pay off Merian’s debts as part of the buyout.
Jupiter has since pledged to keep the majority of Merian’s flagship strategies intact.
It announced in November around 40 Merian investment professionals, including 23 fund managers, would join its investment team in what it called an “important step in the development of Jupiter’s business”.
Through the move, the four major franchises from Merian — UK small- and mid-cap, UK larger companies, systematic, and gold and silver — all transitioned to Jupiter.
Meanwhile areas of overlap between the two fund houses resulted in six fund managers leaving Merian.
Merian Global Investors was known as Old Mutual Global investors until fund managers at the company, led by head of UK equities, Richard Buxton, took part in a management buy-out in 2018.
Mr Buxton was chief executive until standing down in June 2019, though he continues as a fund manager and head of UK equities.
After the Jupiter buyout, Merian shareholders own a combined 17 per cent of the business while the five fund managers who were major shareholders in Merian own about 1 per cent of the combined company.
FTAdviser revealed last month that Jupiter proposed to make up to 90 of its staff redundant in a bid to become “more agile”.
imogen.tew@ft.com
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