Two Jupiter Money Managers Bag $80 Million Chrysalis Payday

A collection of five, ten, twenty and fifty British pound banknotes sit in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016. The U.K. currency is getting harder to trade, and to predict, because the nation�s exit from the European Union has changed the rules of engagement. Photographer: Miles Willis/Bloomberg , Photographer: Miles Willis/Bloomberg

Loukia Gyftopoulou, Bloomberg News

Jan 27, 2022

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(Bloomberg) -- Two Jupiter Asset Management fund managers were awarded shares valued at more than 60 million pounds ($81 million) at the end of September for their work running a listed investment trust, one of the City of London’s biggest such paydays.

Nick Williamson and Richard Watts earned a total of 60.5 million pounds in performance fees from Chrysalis Investments Ltd. for the year through September, according to a statement on Wednesday. The payment will be made via the issue of more than 22 million shares on Friday that the pair will receive in March, which are subject to a three year vesting period. 

The shares have lost about a third of their value since the end of September and are now worth around 40 million pounds. 

The performance fee “is reflective of the significant value that has been created for shareholders by the investment management team over the course of the year,” Jupiter said in an emailed statement. “The calculation for the fee is consistent year-on-year, and fully set out in the Company’s prospectus. Jupiter, alongside the Board of the Trust, is committed to ensuring continued alignment with the company’s shareholders, and keeps all fee arrangements under constant review.”

The decision by Williamson and Watts to accept payment in shares valued at September’s closing share price reflects “the investment team’s long-term commitment to the trust and confidence in the strength and long-term prospects of the portfolio’s holdings,” Jupiter added.

Chrysalis, which had net assets of around 1.4 billion pounds on Sept. 30, invests in pre-IPO and fast growing companies and has been boosted by early bets on fintechs like Klarna and Wise. As a result, the trust paid Jupiter performance fees of more than 112 million pounds in total, the statement said.

Its board said in the statement it was “pleased” the portfolio managers elected to receive the performance fee in the form of shares, but said it will review the arrangements, “including the performance fee payment structure, in 2022 after consultation with relevant parties.”

Chrysalis didn’t respond to a request for comment. The Times of London first reported the payout.

(Updates with further details on structure of deferred pay package throughout.)

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