Wassenaar, The Netherlands – April 6, 2017 – Last year, the Juno Selection Fund saw a strong increase in capital inflows  from both private and institutional clients. Together with a strong investment performance the past years, this has caused the fund to almost reach its maximum size. Therefore, the fund’s manager, Juno Investment Partners (‘Juno’), has decided to close the fund as of 1 June 2017 for new clients. The remaining capacity will be available for follow-on investments by existing clients only. We expect that in the course of this year, that remaining capacity will also be fully utilized. Juno will continue to carry out its investment strategy in the same consistent and successful manner it has done for the last, nearly, ten years.

Juno invests in (predominantly) family-owned companies in the European small- and midcap segment, with a highly-concentrated portfolio. This portfolio contains ten to fifteen companies which are held for longer periods of time, often more than five years. A direct consequence of this concentrated investment style in smaller to mid-sized companies is that there is a maximum level of assets that can be managed. This cap is dictated by liquidity: the extent to which existing positions can be reduced or new positions can be added to the portfolio without causing too much upward pressure on share prices.

Alongside the fund, Juno also manages direct mandates. The investments in those mandates are identical to those in the fund. The fund and the mirrored direct mandates, both have seen a strong increase in capital inflows during the last years. Recently, a sizable direct mandate was signed with a U.K. pension fund. Juno’s total assets under the management are now more less evenly divided between the fund and the mandates (see chart). This leads to a healthy balance between the dependence on large institutional clients and more than three hundred loyal participants in the fund.

“Our investment strategy has been our formula for success and is therefore more important than the total assets under management. Hence the limited cap to the fund”, says Lennart Smits, co-founder and manager. “Following the share price increases over the past years, the market has grown in size accordingly, which automatically moved our cap upwards. At the same time, the fund was quite popular with new and existing clients, increasing our assets under management at a faster pace over the last years. Now that the maximum size is approaching, it will not be long before we will only be able to accept follow-on investments by existing clients. The mandates under our management, representing approximately 50% of the total assets we manage, have now reached their limit as well”, says Frans Jurgens, co-founder and manager. The decision to keep the fund closed may change as a result of market conditions, investment results and the amount of total assets under management. If participants redeem their investment, or if direct mandates are terminated, an opportunity may arise to invest in the fund again.

About Juno Investment Partners

Juno Investment Partners was established in 2007 as a fully independent fund manager and has an AIFM license (as referred to in Section 2:65 of the Wft), issued by the Dutch regulator AFM. Juno specializes in the selection of exceptional listed (family owned) companies in Europe. Companies that are able to achieve predictable and stable earnings growth year after year are considered for investment. The selection process focuses on the return on invested capital, a low debt ratio and free cash flows of a highly predictable nature. The analysts/portfolio managers compile a highly concentrated portfolio of approximately fifteen companies that they identify, analyze and visit regularly. Selected companies remain in the portfolio for a longer time period (usually more than five years). All analysts/portfolio managers have themselves invested in the Juno funds.

Juno offers three products: The Juno Selection Fund, which focuses on the selection of smaller and medium-sized listed companies, the Juno Continuation Fund for medium-sized companies and individual asset management using the same investment style, for larger clients through managed segregated accounts.

– The Juno Selection Fund was launched in 2008. This mutual fund invests in distinctive European small and medium-sized companies with an initial market capitalization of €250 million to €4 billion. In recent years, this investment style has resulted in above average investment returns for participants in the Juno Selection Fund. This fund has been hard closed for further (follow on) subscriptions since 2018.

– The same investment strategy is applied in the Juno Continuation Fund, which was launched on February 1, 2020. This fund focuses on unique, medium-sized European companies with a market value between €4 billion and €20 billion at the time of initial purchase. As is the case with the Selection Fund, the Continuation Fund also has a strong preference for investments in businesses that are family owned, or companies in which a family or management itself is also a shareholder.