PA Adviser spends a week in the life of David Lewis, investment manager, Merlin Funds at Jupiter Asset Management. Commencing 22 October.
Monday
The day starts at 6am as our young son bounces in looking for breakfast. I sort him and his sisters out, make my muesli and salad for my packed lunch then drive to an exercise class in Grantham. We moved out of London about a year ago for the wide-open spaces and fresh air.
From my class, I head to Jupiter’s Grantham office, a space used by the Jupiter Merlin team as my colleagues, John, Algy, Alastair, and I live around this area. Once we have caught up over a cup of tea, it is down to reading the daily reports from the various economists and strategists we subscribe to as I eat my breakfast.
Next, I prepare a deck to accompany the Merlin team’s monthly webcast. This edition focusses on the valuations of various geographical markets, looking at the Cyclically-Adjusted Price Earnings ratio (CAPE) as well as the what regional markets are pricing in around earnings and dividend growth and buybacks.
Over lunch, I read a range of updates on funds we hold and those in which we are interested to pick up on any titbits which can inform our own thinking. It is that time of year, so I next spend some time providing feedback for annual reviews and start to work on my own. I finish my working day by listening in to a macro economist/strategist’s conference call.
At home, I have dinner with my wife and kids which is followed by some spelling and piano practice. Then it is bath and bedtime, accompanied by Road Dahl’s ‘BFG’.
Tuesday
My alarm wakes me up at 5.15am informing me I have 10 minutes to get out of the door. On my way to the station, I listen to Radio 4 to catch the headlines. I then use the hour and 10-minute train journey to run through any emails and review a pack for our manager meeting later today. Arriving into King’s Cross, I jog to the office and am at the desk for about 8am.
This morning there is the weekly company-wide markets call, which is followed by a catch-up with the CIO. At 10.30am, we have the Merlin team weekly meeting where we discuss all of the manager meetings we have had during the last week and any separate meetings we have attended as well as any macroeconomic or market observations, generally finishing with a discussion on positioning.
After that, we have the Findlay Park team in to discuss their positioning and talk us through their continuing tilt away from the magnificent seven.
Lunch is often a salad from Urban Greens, a company run by a former Jupiter colleague who decided to change tack. I tend to opt for one of the vegetarian options, being mindful of my carbon footprint. Afterwards, we have an energy consultant in to discuss how the UK is going to address its growing electricity needs. I finish my day by giving blood before catching the train home.
Wednesday
My first formal engagement of the day is a coffee with Luca Evangelisti, the manager of the Jupiter Financials Contingent Capital fund. I sat next to him at this year’s Fund Manager of the Year Awards where both the Jupiter Merlin Growth Portfolio and his strategy were nominated.
Our emotional journeys parted company there as our portfolio took home the Managed Flexible award whereas his fund missed out. Since then, I have continued to be impressed by the dynamics behind the CoCos area and his conservative approach within them.
Following this, I have a meeting with John Morrison the new interim head of UK sales for Jupiter, to discuss the sales and distribution strategy for the Merlin strategies for 2025 and how to position our newer, lower cost Jupiter Merlin Select strategies within this.
Midday brings a client meeting, presenting the Jupiter Merlin Income Portfolio to a group of advisers who added our strategy to their panel relatively recently. This covers areas around positioning and our broad outlook encompassing equities, fixed income, and commercial property.
I finish the day preparing for, and appearing on, the Square Mile Behind The Screens podcast with George Fox, hosted by Jock Glover, where we talk about how we split our time, the themes in the portfolios, and what we view as the most exciting opportunities for the future.
Thursday
Follows the same routine as Tuesday and Wednesday. The first part of the morning is spent preparing to host the MAN GLG UK Income team who have come to see us to talk about their fund. We initially bought the strategy in November 2020 off the back of Covid vaccine announcements and it has since outperformed the FTSE All-Share index as well as many global indices.
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Next, I meet with Chris Fidyk, portfolio manager on the Pacific North American Opportunities fund. This multi-cap strategy reflects Chris’ natural bias towards the healthcare sector and away from technology. Given the AI hype, you might think this positioning would have made for a tough 2024, but Chris is actually ahead of the S&P 500. He talks us through his major positions and where he sees value.
Tonight, I am catching up over a curry with a bunch of old Durham University friends. This month was my chance to organise and I see it is a good opportunity to try out a new place on Haymarket.
Friday
Jupiter implements a ‘two-one-two’ protocol of everyone being in the office on Tuesday and Thursday with one more day of your choice. Fridays I usually work from home, having breakfast with the kids and squeezing in an exercise class.
After that I crack on with emails, interspersed with a bit of sourdough-making. I tend to make three loaves a week of wholemeal loaves but now and again focaccias are fun and popular with the kids.
Once I am caught up, I proofread Alastair Irvine’s excellent Merlin Weekly Macro, a digestible distillation of some of the key dynamics and occurrences over the week. Friday is the day to catch up on anything I haven’t managed to do earlier in the week. It is also good to use the greater calm to look at underlying fund performance, market movements, and portfolio positioning to reflect on any changes which might make sense.
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As we move into the weekend the cooking baton is passed my way and I make some baked fish, roasted veg, and pasta for dinner. Once the kids are home, work takes a backseat to family life and it is great to be able to all sit down together with the week complete.
Saturday
No lie-ins for us as we have to get up and out to swimming lessons at 8.15am, followed by French class. All of my kids are bilingual by dint of my Swiss wife so we try to keep their knowledge up. There is also an hour for grown-ups where I “um and ah” my way through the imparfait tense. Then it is home, lunch and a cycle around the local area.
Sunday
More sport for the kids: my son and I are heading to rugby where I help coach his team and my wife takes the girls to hockey. We reconvene at home before heading to a friend’s, who also has wee ones, for Sunday lunch. After eating the kids entertain each other, even if, when it’s time to head home, it looks more like they have sprayed the toys around rather than actually played with them.
