Following this week’s announcement that under-fire Chrysalis (CHRY ) would break away from Jupiter Fund Management (JUP), Jupiter chief executive Matthew Beesley speaks about the reasons for the split.

Beesley says the spin-off allows fund managers Richard Watts and Nick Williamson to focus on improving shareholder returns in Chrysalis, which trades on a wide 50% discount and faces a continuation vote in April.

He also says the £800m Guernsey investment company, which backs unquoted companies ahead of their flotation and came to Jupiter through its acquisition of Merian Global Investors three years ago, was ‘non-core for us’.

‘We’ve got a mindset of being relentlessly focused on efficiency and cost control, and certainly Chrysalis brought some complexity to our business, given the nature of its hybrid-based approach,’ said Beesley (pictured below right).

‘The ability to scale that infrastructure just wasn’t there.’