Richard Buxton to retire after 40-year career

The UK stockpicker is known for his buy-and-hold approach and long track record with the same fund.

Richard Buxton is retiring from fund management at the end of this summer, bringing an end to a career picking UK stocks that began in 1985.

Buxton currently manages the Jupiter UK Alpha fund, a strategy that he has carried with him through four fund managers over 20 years: Schroders, Old Mutual Global Investors, Merian Global Investors and finally Jupiter Asset Management.

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Management of the fund will hand over to Ed Meir and Errol Francis, who both currently work alongside Buxton on the strategy. They have all worked together since 2006, starting at Schroders.

Buxton is known for running concentrated portfolios of UK shares and implementing a buy-and-hold strategy. He considers himself a long-term owner of a business, rather than a trader of company shares. His top stocks currently are AstraZeneca, Lloyds, Glencore and BP.

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According to FE FundInfo, a fund data provider, he has returned 7.8% a year over 21 years. His Jupiter UK Alpha strategy has returned 289% since 2003 compared with 351% for his typical rival and 390% for the FTSE All-Share index, including the reinvestment of dividends.

Buxton came to the interactive investor studio in April to feature in our Insider Interviewvideo series. He revealed the stocks he has held for 20 years, and also gave his outlook for the UK market and economy. Watch the videos here:

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Buxton has also held fund management leadership positions. In 2015, he was appointed chief executive officer of Old Mutual, and in 2018 led a management buyout of the company, which was re-named Merian Global Investors. Jupiter acquired the group in 2020 for £370 million.

Buxton said: “It has been a pleasure and a huge privilege to have been entrusted with so many people’s long-term savings over so many years. While I am looking forward to pursuing other interests, not least my passion for the arts, I have always said that investing is ‘in my blood.’

“I feel extraordinarily lucky to have been able to pursue a career in a field that has always held such a fascination for me, and to have done so surrounded by some exceptionally talented colleagues. To be able to hand full responsibility for the portfolios so seamlessly to two colleagues who have been fundamental to the strategy’s success over such a long period brings me a great deal of pleasure.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the clients who have placed their faith in us, and to wish Ed [Meir], Errol [Francis] and my other Jupiter colleagues the very best for the future.”