This collaboration combines Fairstone’s extensive client base and advisory expertise with JP Morgan Asset Management’s global investment capabilities, it said in a statement on 22 January.

The partnership will see Fairstone utilise JP Morgan Asset Management’s global equity and global bond capabilities as core components of its new NOVA MPS (Managed Portfolio Service) range.

The NOVA MPS will provide institutional-grade investment capabilities to retail clients at institutional pricing, “delivering significant value at just 55 basis points”. Set to launch for new clients on 1 March, the range is designed to deliver proven investment solutions at a highly competitive price.

Fairstone will seed the new range with over £500m on day one and anticipates that the exceptional quality and price of the offering will drive incremental assets into the Fairstone MPS ranges of £2bn over the next 12 months.

The strategic partnership extends beyond the NOVA MPS range, as Fairstone and J.P. Morgan Asset Management collaborate to develop further product innovations.

Pictured above are: Lee Hartley, Fairstone CEO; Claude Kurzo, JP Morgan Asset Management Country Head UK; and Nick Stebbing, Fairstone COO.

Speaking at the launch event, held at JP Morgan’s offices on London’s Embankment, Lee Hartley, CEO of Fairstone, said: “Fairstone Investment Management was established to act as professional buyers of investment solutions, ensuring clients remain at the heart of our approach.

“The NOVA range, managed by Fairstone’s in-house investment management team, will feature segregated mandates run by J.P. Morgan Asset Management as cornerstone solutions. J.P. Morgan Asset Management was selected for their outstanding track record, with 88% of their global mutual fund assets under management outperforming their peers, and for the expertise of their team of over 1,300 global investment professionals.

“To remain the most trusted wealth management company and to continue delivering exceptional service to our 125,000 clients, we recognise the importance of partnering with leading suppliers. In J.P. Morgan Asset Management, we are confident we have found the right partner.”

Claude Kurzo, UK country head at JP Morgan Asset Management, added: “We’re excited to partner with Fairstone on launching an innovative new MPS solution that is expected to provide strong client outcomes at a very attractive price point. We also look forward to supporting Fairstone in helping their clients achieve their financial objectives, which includes leveraging our Guide to the Markets and training programs to support Fairstone’s advisers.”

Nick Stebbing, chief operating officer at Fairstone, said: “This partnership delivers institutional-grade investing to retail clients, bridging a significant gap in the market. By working with J.P. Morgan Asset Management, we’re able to offer solutions that bring together robust performance and competitive pricing. This collaboration underscores our commitment to ensuring clients benefit from professional-grade strategies that were previously accessible only to large institutions.”

While 2022 offered a full-year dividend of 52.78 pence per share, this year will result in 23.83 pence per share, a 54.8% decrease. The board also announced that in the future, annual distributions will be 50% of the full year underlying cash result, set at 18 pence per share for the next three years.

The £426m pre-tax provision is in response to a “marked increase” in client complaints regarding their ongoing service. SJP started an assessment into the need for refunds due to this ongoing service, and found the “evidence of ongoing client servicing was less complete in the years preceding investment into [its] Salesforce CRM system in 2021″. The findings resulted in the company upping its provisions for refunds.

In 2023, SJP announced fee restructures that will be put in place in the second half of 2025, which faced criticism within the industry, primarily for the amount of time it would take to put the system in place. The announcement followed the FCA’s consumer duty regulation which came into play on 31 July.

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A report from Citi highlighted the drop in its capital return policy: “H2’23 underlying cash came in 8% below consensus driven by the costs associated with an increase in client complaints. The post-tax result was also materially impacted by a provision for further potential client refunds linked to historic servicing levels.

“Although the dividend cut is not completely unexpected, it has gone further than we had thought and, when combined with the uncertainty surrounding the costs associated with client servicing complaints, we expect the shares to face headwinds today.”

SJP’s post-tax underlying cash result was £392.4m, down from £410.1m in 2022, which the company noted included a higher corporation tax rate for the year. For the year, SJP had net inflows of £5.1bn compared to 2022’s £9.8bn.

JP Morgan Cazenove wrote in an analysis report: “The size of the provision, paired with the downgrade in the capital return policy, will result in another major negative share price reaction, in our view.

“We expect that management will have to address a number of questions, including the one-off nature of the provision, additional regulatory risks, and the implications for future customer acquisition and relationship with the Partners.”

SJP CEO Mark FitzPatrick added in the results: “Overall, 2023 was a difficult year for SJP but we’ve faced into our challenges. We’ve raised our standards around both the delivery and evidencing of ongoing client servicing and we’ve announced changes across our business, including our charges structure, so that we’re in good shape for the future.”

This article was written for our sister title Portfolio Adviser

The asset class pulled in a net €29.7bn in the month, while Money Market USD  was the best-selling Lipper Classification after receiving €11.2bn inflows.

Providers of mutual funds pulled in €22.5bn, while passives saw net inflows of €21bn.

Detlef Glow, head of Lipper EMEA research at LSEG, said: “Within the current market environment, it is not surprising that European investors bought further into money market products since the Eurozone and other major economies have an inverted yield curve. This means that money market products offer a higher yield than medium- or long-term bonds.

“More generally, long-term funds and money market products enjoyed inflows for the month. These flow numbers might indicate that European investors are further readjusting their portfolios to the current market environment.”

See also: Evelyn Partners adds to US equities and UK gilts in Core MPS rebalancing

Equity funds attracted €2.5bn net inflows in January, while multi-asset funds suffered outflows of €11.7bn. Investors also pulled €3.6bn from alternatives and €1.8bn from real estate funds.

By fund group, BlackRock’s €7.3bn net inflow was the best-selling among fund promoters in Europe, ahead of HSBC’s €6.7bn.

JP Morgan (€6.5bn), Axa Investment Managers (€4.3bn), and BNP Paribas (€4.0bn) all also saw strong net inflows.

The inflows occurred against the backdrop of an unstable market environment due to the geopolitical tensions in Middle East, especially the Red Sea, which increased in January due to concerns over prolonged delivery times caused by shipping companies having to avoid the Suez channel.

Glow added: “This month was somewhat business as usual. However, it is still surprising that European investors prefer bond funds over money market products, given the inverted yield curves in the major economies around the globe.

“In addition, it is noteworthy that one of the major trends from 2023 (actively managed US equity funds faced outflows, while ETFs enjoyed inflows) continued in January 2024.”

This article was written for our sister title Portfolio Adviser

The Chinese property sector, which makes up around a quarter of the country’s economy, has been a particular drag on returns over the last year. In January, one of the sector’s leading players, China Evergrande, entered into a forced liquidation.

This was seen in the month’s worst performing individual funds, with the £14.1m Redwheel China Equity, £203.3m Baillie Gifford China, and £5.8m JPM China all among the bottom 10 for returns. Climate strategies, such as Baillie Gifford Climate Optimism and Active Solar also struggled in January.

In contrast, IA North America and Technology were the two best-performing sectors, up 3% and 4.8% respectively.

Ben Yearsley, director at Fairview Investing, said. “These two are so intertwined that it does distort the picture of US equities. Microsoft is again the world’s largest company with a value just under $3trn. But with Apple, Alphabet and Amazon also in the top ten, a tech fund, a Nasdaq tracker, an S&P tracker and a MSCI World tracker look very similar and perform in tandem.”

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He added: “The positive equity stories of 2023 all continue with tech, India, and Japan all starting 2024 with a bang. Two of those areas look pretty expensive – then again they almost always do. Japan remains one of the most interesting stories with corporate change and more shareholder awareness helping drive markets. On the other side, China can’t seem to escape the doom loop – Beijing need a big bang to pull markets from historic lows.”

Yearsley pointed out that, for a brief period of time in January, markets regained some confidence after Beijing announced stimulus measures. However this confidence evaporated, with the Hang Seng index finishing the month down by more than 9%.

“Contrast that with Japan where the Topix put on almost 7% – the BoJ has kept the world’s last remaining negative interest rate policy and wants inflation. Despite the excellent returns from Japanese equities many fund managers are confident on future returns and thinking this is just the start of a sustained bull run. The FTSE had a lacklustre start to 2024 falling 1.27%.”

Oxeye Hedged Income was the top performing fund, returning 9.5% in January. Yearsley noted the fund has regularly topped and tailed the monthly performance tables over the past few years.

Jupiter’s India-focused offerings, Jupiter India and Jupiter India Select, both performed strongly by returning 8.7% and 8.3% respectively. The average IA India fund returned 1.8% over the month.

Khayyam Jumani will lead a team of private banking professionals providing wealth management advice and services to individuals, family offices, charities and family foundations across Greater Manchester.

With a career at JP Morgan that spans 12 years, UK north team leader Jumani joined the private banking arm in 2013 and has served clients across the UK for several years.

JP Morgan Private Bank now has offices in London, Manchester, Bournemouth, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Oliver Gregson, region head of JP Morgan Private Bank in the UK, Ireland & Channel Islands, said: “It is an exciting time for our organisation, and I’m delighted to embark on our journey in Manchester.

“Since the days of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester has played a leading role in shaping the UK economy. Today, the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester represent tens of thousands of enterprises in leading sectors like advanced manufacturing, digital and technology, life sciences and healthcare.

“It is for these reasons and many more that I’m delighted to bring a dedicated team and hub of resources under one roof in Manchester, which, when combined with JP Morgan’s global resources, will deliver unparalleled depth of expertise, knowledge and capabilities for clients across the region.”