St. James’s Place (SJP) has dropped Ninety One from its £894m SJP Worldwide Income fund in favour of Acadian Asset Management as it pivots the approach to systematic investing.
Changes to the fund, which is to be renamed SJP Global Equity Income, aim to produce better long-term returns, improve diversification and add value, the firm said.
Acadian will use an active systematic investment approach, combining data-driven models with human oversight. As part of this change in process, the fund will move from a concentrated 30-stock portfolio to one with around 500 underlying holdings.
The ongoing charges figure (OCF) has also been reduced by 30 basis points.
SJP Global Equity Income has languished in the fourth quartile of its LF Global Equities peer group over one, three five and 10 years, having produced bottom-quartile results in each of the past three calendar years. It is on course to do so again so far in 2026.
Justin Onuekwusi, chief investment officer at SJP, said: “These changes reflect our commitment to continuously evolve our investment approach to deliver long-term outcomes for clients.
“By combining a more diversified portfolio with a systematic, data-driven process, we believe the fund is positioned to provide a consistent level of income while managing risk effectively. The reduction in ongoing charges is also an important step in improving value for clients.”