Posted inHead To Head

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Jupiter versus Neuberger Berman

FSA compares two US equity products: The Jupiter Merian North American Equity Fund and the Neuberger Berman US Multi Cap Opportunities Fund.
by Francis Nikolai Acosta

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The Jupiter Merian and NB funds versus their benchmark indices (MSCI North American Equity Index and S&P 500, respectively) and sector average. Source: FE Fundinfo.

PERFORMANCE

Both the Jupiter Merian and NB funds have struggled to outperform their benchmark indices on a three-year cumulative basis, according to data from FE Fundinfo.

“The Jupiter Merian fund’s quant model tends to struggle when there are frequent regime changes or when markets are whipsawing,” Poole said.

“However, it performed better during the drawdown in March last year. It was just a little bit slow on picking up on the recovery.”

Meanwhile, the NB fund’s exposure to consumer defensive, consumer cyclical and industrial sectors hurt the fund last year.

“These sectors were hit by the Covid crisis.

“But I think where their process came through was that they were able to use that significant drawdown to add exposure to opportunistic or classic stocks that had shown up with a lot of value, and subsequently, that helped the fund recover in Q3 and Q4,” he said.

Annual calendar performance (%)

Fund / index / sector YTD 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Merian North American Equity Fund 5.63 16.82 23.73 -10.43 21.1 13.64
Index : MSCI North America 1.84 20.6 31.48 -5.19 21.62 12.3
NB US Multi Cap Opportunities 4.07 12.51 26.07 -6.38 22.72 11.8
Index : S&P 500 1.96 18.4 31.49 -4.38 21.83 11.96
Sector : Sgp Mt Equity North America 4.19 17.33 27.32 -7.71 19.85 7.98
Source: FE Fundinfo.

In terms of volatility, Poole expects the NB fund to be more volatile, given its exposure to special situations and opportunistic stocks.

Three-year annualised volatility

Fund / index / sector Volatility
Jupiter Merian 19.02
Index: MSCI North America 21.95
Neuberger Berman 24.1
Index: S&P 500 21.78
Source: FE Fundinfo.

 

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