Jupiter posts strong inflows as investor confidence stays high

LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Jupiter Fund Management said clients added 510 million pounds ($839.48 million) of net inflows at the end of 2013 as more investors bought into its fixed income and equity funds.

In a trading statement on Wednesday, the British fund management firm said assets under management in the last three months of 2013 had increased to 31.7 billion pounds, with the strongest performance coming from the company's core mutual funds business, which saw inflows of 458 million pounds.

The figures came in above expectations, with analysts at Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS - news) having forecast net inflows of 300 million pounds, while Numis analysts expected slightly higher inflows of 430 million pounds.

Chief Executive Edward Bonham Carter said mutual fund inflows were driven by "improved client sentiment and strong delivery from our increasingly broad distribution network".

Bonham Carter is to hand over leadership of the company to Maarten Slendebroek in March, who joined Jupiter from BlackRock (Berlin: BLQA.BE - news) in 2012 and is currently in charge of distribution and strategy.