Leading fund manager slashes US exposure in half

Jupiter Financial Opportunities co-managers Philip Gibbs and Guy De Blonay have halved the North American weighting of their Jupiter Financial Opportunities fund over the last month.

At the end of May, North America accounted for 26.12% of the portfolio, but a month later it had been all but halved to 13.72%, with investment bank giants JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America both being reduced dramatically.

Gibbs and de Blonay's cautious stance on the US is down to what they see as conflicting economic data from the country.

Gibbs (pictured left with de Blonay)) said: 'US economic data has become more mixed as the year has progressed. Manufacturing is recovering well, but unemployment remains stubbornly high, with the private sector still cautious about the recovery.'

At the same time the fund's exposure to Chinese financials has increased with both Bank of China and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China moving into the fund's top 10 while exposure to Eastern Europe has also been increased with Turkey's Garantibank becoming a top 10 holding.

Citywire A-rated Gibbs, who was joined on the fund by co-manager Guy de Blonay at the start of June, greatly reduced his stakes in US investment banks JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America over the month of June, while increasing exposure to Chinese financials.

JP Morgan Chase had been the £190 million fund's biggest holding at the end of May, contributing 8.13% of the portfolio, while Bank of America had been its fifth biggest position, at 4.68% of the fund.

A month later JP Morgan Chase was just 2.96% of the fund, while Bank of America accounted for 1.93%.

Goldman Sachs, which posted worse than expected losses last week, was 3.53% of the fund at the end of May, but a month on it had fallen out of the top 10, although Citigroup jumped from 4.15% to become the fund's biggest holding at 6.96%.

The portfolio also saw an increase in Chinese exposure, with Bank of China moving up to 4.3%  and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China also becoming a top 10 position at 2% of the fund's portfolio at the start of July.

Overall, Far East ex Japan exposure was up from 10.5% to almost 15% at the end of June, while Eastern European exposure jumped from 2.45% of the portfolio to 7.16%, driven by Turkey's strong economic recovery.

In his outlook statement, Gibbs said he remained 'carefully invested' due to US concerns and fears about the economic health of southern Europe.