For immediate release

10 June 2009

Jupiter Asset Management launches
Jupiter Japan Select fund

Jupiter Asset Management is delighted to announce it will be launching the Jupiter Japan Select fund (Sicav) in early July.

The fund, a sub-fund of the Luxembourg-domiciled Jupiter Global Fund, will seek to achieve long term capital growth through investing in Japan but will also have the flexibility to invest up to 20% in other Asian countries, such as Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. It may also hold government bonds.

It will be managed by Simon Somerville, manager of the Jupiter Japan Income Fund. This UK-domiciled unit trust has produced top quartile returns over the past year, three years and since launch in September 2005.*

Simon has worked in the fund management industry for 19 years and joined Jupiter in January 2005. He is a bottom-up stock picker who adheres to the GARP (Growth At a Reasonable Price) school of investing. The new fund will tend to hold between 40 and 55 stocks and while Simon has no pre-set size bias, he will typically look for opportunities among small and medium sized companies.

Simon believes that Japan currently represents compelling value relative to other markets and furthermore, smaller companies in Japan have lagged their larger counterparts.

Simon explained: "The export sector has been seriously impacted by external factors and will continue to suffer. However, the domestic sector has been far more stable, and has not suffered a financial crisis as other major markets have. We have probably seen the worst of the poor economic and earnings news flow. This was highlighted in the April industrial production numbers, which rose at the fastest pace in 56 years, up 5.2% month on month; however this record looks likely to be beaten in May when production is expected to climb 8% from April. Other data announced at the end of May also showed an improvement over the previous month, excepting unemployment, a lagging indicator, which rose to 5%. With the Japanese government spending 5% of GDP on its economic stimulus packages, the domestic economy should generally be on an improving trend.

"In addition, while the news flow in the export sector has been dire in the near term, increased intra-regional trade will provide significant benefits and less reliance on the West in the long term. Trade with China, for example, is now greater than trade with the US, which offers significant opportunities."

Kevin Scott, Executive Director International at Jupiter Asset Management, said: "We are delighted to be extending the range of funds available in the Jupiter Global Fund. We now have eight funds on offer, reflecting some key areas of fund management expertise - Jupiter New Europe, Jupiter India Select, Jupiter Asia Pacific, Jupiter European Growth and Jupiter European Opportunities, as well as two of our highly successful thematic funds - Jupiter Global Financials and Jupiter Climate Change. I am delighted we are making Simon's expertise available to our international clients through the Jupiter Japan Select fund."

- ENDS -

 
 For further information please contact:
 

Jupiter
Alicia Wyllie
Head of Communications & Director
Direct: +44 (0)207 314 5573
Mobile: +44 (0)7798 681861

Edward Robinson
Communications Executive
Direct: +44 (0)207 314 4924

Mainland PR
Phoebe Davison
Direct: +44 (0)203 008 7522

Kelly Rawlinson
Direct: +44 (0)203 008 7406

 
NOTES TO EDITORS

* Source: Financial Express, bid to bid, net income reinvested to 29.5.09. Jupiter Japan Income has returned -11.05% over the past year compared with -12.95% for the sector average. Over three years the Fund has returned -14.73% compared with -25.62% for the sector average. Since launch, the Fund has returned 0.66% against -15.18% for the sector average.

JUPITER JAPAN SELECT FUND FACTS

• Sub-fund of the Jupiter Global Fund 
• Registered in Luxembourg and the UK. Seeking registration in Austria, France, Finland, Germany, Jersey, Sweden and Switzerland
• Launch date: early July (date to be confirmed)
• Price: £10, ?10 or $10 a share depending on the currency class the investor chooses
• Managed by Simon Somerville
• Benchmarked against the Topix Index ($)
• Fees: up to 5% initial and 1.5% annual management charge
• Minimum initial investment: £1,000, ?1,000, $1,000 in respective share classes
• £, ? and $ share classes
• Sterling share class to be run so as to qualify for 'distributor status' so gains in the Fund can be treated as capital gains, not income, for tax purposes

SIMON SOMERVILLE BIOGRAPHY

• Joined Jupiter in 2005
• Over 19 years experience in fund management.
• Manager of Jupiter Japan Income and Japan element of the Jupiter Global Managed Fund

ABOUT JUPITER
Founded over 20 years ago, Jupiter has become one of the UK's leading fund management groups for private and institutional investors. We manage assets across a wide range of international and UK based mutual funds, multi-manager products, hedge funds, institutional mandates, and a variety of portfolios specialising in markets such as the UK, Europe, Asia and Emerging Europe, as well as specialist thematic investments such as socially responsible investments (SRI) and global financial equities.

Majority owned by employees since June 2007, Jupiter's independent structure reinforces our commitment to producing strong investment performance and high levels of customer service.

Jupiter has two Sicavs - the Jupiter Global Fund Sicav and the Jupiter Merlin Funds Sicav. These products are promoted in Europe by Martina Guenzl, who covers Austria, Germany and Switzerland and, Simon O'Donoghue, who covers Scandinavia and the Channel Islands.

Jupiter Asset Management Limited (JAM) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the UK. The registered address is 1 Grosvenor Place London SW1X 7JJ. The above commentary represents the views of the Fund Manager at the time of preparation and may be subject to change. They are not necessarily those of Jupiter and should not be interpreted as investment advice. Past Performance should not be seen as a guide to future returns, the value of an investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise and may be affected by exchange rate variations. Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of any information provided but no assurances or warranties are given.