UK-listed Jupiter has appointed James Clunie as manager of the Jupiter Absolute Return Fund, with effect from 1 September.

Clunie, who joined Jupiter earlier this month, will take over the £482 million (around $727 million) fund from Philip Gibbs, who will be retiring from his current fund management role at Jupiter in October 2014.

Clunie, with 24 years’ investment management experience, was previously manager of the equity long/short SWIP UK Flexible Strategy Fund. While at SWIP, he also managed a number of UK long-only funds, and served as an investment director covering equities. Before that, Clunie was a senior lecturer in finance at the University of Edinburgh between 2003 and 2007, prior to which he worked as head of global equities at Aberdeen Asset Management.

Gibbs, who joined Jupiter in 1997, ran the Jupiter Financial Opportunities Fund between June 1997 and June 2010, when Guy de Blonay became co-manager. Gibbs has also managed the Jupiter second split investment trust and its predecessor the Jupiter split trust since 1998, as well as various institutional mandates and the Jupiter Absolute Return Fund, which was launched in 2009.