Key Morningstar Metrics for JP Morgan Global Dividend and JP Morgan Global Equity Income
- Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold
- Process Pillar: High
- People Pillar: Above Average
- Parent Pillar: Above Average
JPM Global Dividend and JP Morgan Global Equity Income are compelling options in the global equity income Morningstar Category; they earn an Above Average People rating and a High Process rating.
Helge Skibeli has overseen the strategies since March 2018 and remains the ultimate decision-maker. A J.P. Morgan veteran of nearly 40 years, Skibeli has built his career around fundamental research, having previously led research teams across Asian, US, and global equities.
He is joined by two comanagers. Sam Witherow, a 16-year firm veteran, has been a named manager since February 2019 and, in practice, has increasingly taken on a lead role. Witherow spent his early years as an analyst before shifting into global portfolio management. Michael Rossi became comanager in February 2023. The most junior of the trio, Rossi brings seven years of experience, all at J.P. Morgan, and has worked closely with Skibeli and Witherow since 2019.
Crucially, the portfolio managers are underpinned by J.P. Morgan’s deep fundamental analyst resources, one of the industry’s deepest and most experienced teams. Around 80 sector specialists each cover 20—35 companies, on average bringing 17 years of industry experience and 13 years at the firm.
These strategies employ a disciplined, bottom-up stock-picking process supported by this extensive global research platform. Analysts covering more than 2,500 companies classify stocks as premium, quality, standard, or challenged and assign five-year expected return targets to guide portfolio construction. On top of this, the managers identify three types of dividend-payers: compounders, high dividend growth, and high dividend yield. About half the portfolio is allocated to compounders, while the remainder is spread across high-yield and high dividend growth stocks.
The manager’s primary focus is on premium and quality names, maintaining a valuation-conscious, conviction-driven approach in a relatively concentrated portfolio of 60-80 holdings. The portfolio favors financially healthy, large- and mega-cap companies, with minimal small-cap exposure.
Under Helge Skibeli’s tenure since April 2018, the strategy has delivered impressive results.
Through July 2025, the JP Morgan Global Dividend C ACC USD and JP Morgan Global Equity Income C Net ACC clean share classes have produced an annualized return comfortably ahead of both the category average and their benchmark, the MSCI ACWI NR Index. they also outpaced the Morningstar Global High Dividend Yield Index over the same period. Risk-adjusted results have been strong, supported by the strategies’ defensive profile. With a beta of around 0.9, the funds have typically captured a large share of the upside while limiting downside participation.
This article was compiled by Sunniva Kolostyak.
