fund
This is one of our rated funds. They’re the ones our experts believe will do well for investors over the longer term. Top of the class!
Jupiter UK Special Situations I
Pragmatic value style manager primarily investing in out of favour growth stocks in the UK.
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180.58p
Price (Inc)
These are the shares in the fund that pay out an income to clients. The income is made up of the total dividends – the money a company can pay out to its investors – from the companies in the fund.
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243.82p
Price (Acc)
These are the shares in the fund that don’t pay out an income to clients. Any dividends – the money a company can pay out to its investors – are reinvested into companies in the fund. Despite no income, the shares should be worth more over time. Good incentive, eh?
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0.00%
Initial chargeSome funds charge you when you first invest, which is aptly known as the initial charge. They’re usually between 3-5% but at Bestinvest, we usually don’t charge you a penny!
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0.75%
Annual management charge
This is how much the fund management company charges to run the fund. It’s like paying a babysitter, dog sitter or house sitter (that makes well-informed, heavily researched changes to improve your baby/dog/house when needed).
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0.76%
Ongoing charges
This stands for Ongoing Charges Figure. It’s the cost of running a fund and includes admin fees, manager fees, administration costs, etc.
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2.30%
Yield
How much the fund is currently paying out in income to investors. It’s NOT to be confused with the overall growth of a fund – a very different thing indeed. It’s also NOT a guarantee of future pay-outs, just a snapshot. This is more what it’s not than what it is…
The fund targets capital growth through investment in a fairly concentrated portfolio of large and mid-cap UK equities. Selected overseas companies are also included. The fund's manager, Ben Whitmore, adopts a contrarian, value, investment style to uncover good companies whose share prices do not reflect their full potential and worth. Unusually for a value manager he also looks for quality characteristics such as strong balance sheets, aiming to reduce the risks associated with value investing.
Fund summary
| Sector | UK All Companies |
| Structure | UNIT TRUST |
| Launched | June, 2009 |
| Size | £1,766m |
| Yield | 2.30% |
| Charging basis | Income |
| Dividends paid | 31 May, 30 Nov |
Charges
| Standard initial charge | 0.00% |
| Initial charge via Bestinvest | 0.00% |
| Additional bid/offer spread | 0.00% |
| Annual management charge | 0.75% |
| Ongoing charges figure | 0.76% |
Allocation
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Investment process
Ben Whitmore is a bottom-up stock picker who adopts a clear value, contrarian investment style. Investing primarily in large and mid-cap UK equities, he seeks out of favour stocks trading on low valuations. However, he also looks for “quality” characteristics such as a high return on operating assets, a strong balance sheet so they can cope with unfavourable conditions, and profitability that closely mirrors cash flow over time. Companies are discovered through the use of two screens: a Graham & Dodd 10-year P/E measure (value) and a Greenblatt screen (value and quality). The two screens are largely complementary, although stocks from the Greenblatt screen feature more often at times when the dispersion between quality and value is relatively low, indicating quality is relatively cheap. The search for value is, in Whitmore’s view, opportunistic so he has no pre-set size or sector biases, investing wherever he sees value in the broader market, although the bulk of the portfolio is typically made up of larger companies. Whitmore seeks portfolio investments to be as uncorrelated as possible, not only at the fund level but also at the sector level in order to mitigate the risk of any particular sector being a ‘value trap’.
Value investing is typically associated with significant levels of volatility and considerable drawdowns, but the Jupiter Special Situations fund is anything but. Since taking on the product in 2006 manager Ben Whitmore has consistently achieved levels of volatility significantly lower than the broader market and other managers operating in the UK value space, whilst having offered protection during stressed market environments. Solid stock picking, controlling for factor exposures with the portfolio and opportunistic use of cash have all added considerable value over time.
Manager research
Average monthly relative returns
- 16/17 0.42%
- 17/18 0.03%
- 18/19 -0.18%
- 19/20 -0.18%
- 20/21 0.02%
Bestinvest MRI
- 3 years -0.11%
- 5 years 0.02%
- Career 0.24%
- 3 years 42.50%
- 5 years 67.40%
- Career 99.90%
Performance figures are based on the average of monthly percentage returns relative to the benchmark index.
Ben Whitmore
Whitmore holds a geography degree from Cambridge and joined Schroders in 1994, initially working as an assistant to a UK Pension Fund. After a year he moved to the UK Research department as an insurance analyst. He became a UK Equity Fund Manager in 1999. In October 2006 he joined Jupiter and he now is a Director of the UK equities team.
Track record
Ben Whitmore has 19.3 years experience of managing mutual funds in this sector. Over this period the average monthly return relative to the benchmark index has been +0.24%. During the worst period of relative performance (from November 2018 - September 2020) there was a decline of 13% relative to the index. The worst absolute loss has been 35%. Statistically, we estimate the probability that this fund manager is adding value, rather than being lucky, is more than 99%.
Periods of worst performance
| Absolute | -35.00% (October 2007 - February 2009) |
| Relative | -13.00% (November 2018 - September 2020) |
About the MRI
Our unique indicator: the Bestinvest Manager Record Index (MRI) measures the likelihood that the fund manager is adding value through their decisions. It is based on their performance record over the course of their career, adjusted for the amount of risk taken. MRI is an important contributor to our fund rating system but it is also vital to take account of qualitative factors. It is also very important to select funds to form a cohesive portfolio with an appropriate overall risk level.
Allocation
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Top 10 holdings
Data accurate as at 31 July 2020
| 6.8782% | Glaxosmithkline |
| 5.5441% | Kingfisher |
| 4.616% | Anglo American |
| 4.5585% | Aviva |
| 4.3409% | Pearson |
| 4.1911% | Standard Chartered |
| 4.1227% | Barrick Gold Corp |
| 4.1131% | Imperial Brands Plc |
| 3.9912% | Convatec |
| 3.7416% | Vodafone Group |
| Source: Trustnet |
Sector breakdown
| Financials | 22.00% |
| Consumer Services | 16.00% |
| Consumer Goods | 14.00% |
| Industrials | 12.00% |
| Basic Materials | 12.00% |
| Health Care | 11.00% |
| Telecommunications | 7.00% |
| Oil & Gas | 3.00% |
| Money Market | 2.00% |
Portfolio
Normally between 30-50 stocks.
Constraints
Individual holding are generally unlikely to account for more than 7% of the portfolio. +/-10% broader sector constraints