Fund of the week: Jupiter's money-making machine

published 5 June 2006

Philip Gibbs is a "money-making machine", says Jeff Prestridge in The Mail on Sunday. An investor in his Jupiter Financial Opportunities Fund would have seen £1,000 grow to £2,338 over the past year, an achievement recognised by fund analyser Citywire, which recently labelled him "best fund manager", says Prestridge.

Gibbs has a "sometimes aggressive approach", says Citywire, targeting undervalued firms with "proven management and strong products or services". His tactics have paid off, he has returned 580% since the fund's launch in 1997 and 161% (against 92% for the FTSE world index) since the market low three years ago. The fund's performance "has been excellent", says broker Hargreaves Lansdowne, who are reassured that Gibbs has invested a large sum of his own money in the fund.

Gibbs has also been increasing his overseas weighting in recent months, says Investors Chronicle, as "he is able to invest on a global basis and his mandate gives him the opportunity to outperform in all types of economic cycles". As such, only 21% of the funds assets are now in the UK, with 66% invested in Europe. Top holdings are concentrated in financial services and Gibbs is particularly keen on "emerging European banks and developed market banks", says Investors Chronicle. His style has won Gibbs fans Alan Steel of Alan Steel Management says, "I believe he'll continue to add value and outperform the markets generally".