A. Rama Krishna – ARGA's founder and chief investment officer

This follows the January 2024 exit of Jupiter stock picker Ben Whitmore, who left Jupiter to start his own firm – Brickwood Asset Management.

Whilst Alliance has expressed appreciation of Mr Whitmore’s skills they have opted to monitor the performance of his new company before committing.

Alliance Trust’s investment manager Willis Tower Watson (WTW), made the decision to appoint ARGA Investment Management.

Craig Baker, WTW’s chief investment officer and chair of investment committee, said: “While we continue to have high regard for Ben’s skill as an investor, this change of circumstances introduces potential risks which will take time to fully assess. We have therefore decided to replace Ben’s allocation with one run by another stock picker with a similar value-investing philosophy.

“This will ensure the portfolio remains balanced across investment styles, regions, and sectors, and continues to seek to generate market outperformance from stock selection.”

Ben Whitmore

Mr Baker added: “We would like to express our appreciation to Ben, his team and Jupiter for their contribution to Alliance Trust over the last seven years and wish Ben well in his new venture, which we will monitor with interest.

“At the same time, we are excited by the opportunity to introduce a new stock picker with an innovative and disciplined value process, and a large and diverse team providing research breadth and fresh ideas.”

In existence since 2010, the London and Connecticut-based ARGA Investment Management has £11.8 billion in assets under management. The firm was founded by chief investment officer A. Rama Krishna.

ARGA has been allocated approximately 8% of the Alliance Trust portfolio to manage, funded from Jupiter’s allocation.