London CNN Business  — 

A former top executive at JPMorgan Chase is betting big on Deutsche Bank.

Hudson Executive Capital, an activist hedge fund led by former JPMorgan (JPM) finance chief Doug Braunstein, revealed Thursday that it has bought a 3.1% stake in Germany’s biggest lender.

The vote of confidence helped push shares in Deutsche Bank (DB) up nearly 3%, a rare reprieve for a stock that has dropped over 40% in 2018 and hit a record low earlier this week.

Hudson said in a statement that it had bought roughly €570 million ($650 million) worth of shares after conducting over a year of research into Deutsche Bank.

It’s been a year of turmoil at the bank.

CEO Christian Sewing was appointed in April after the unexpected departure of John Cryan following a run of poor earnings. Sewing moved fast to accelerate an overhaul under which Deutsche Bank has closed hundreds of branches, cut thousands of jobs and aggressively slashed costs.

The moves are designed to end years of confusion over the direction of the lender, which had seen its investment banking division lose ground to Wall Street rivals.

Christian Sewing, chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank.

Hudson made the case that the new management team led by Sewing would improve profits by focusing on private and commercial banking, describing one Deutsche Bank unit that provides services to businesses as a “crown jewel” that offers superior returns to investment banking.

The hedge fund also said it was convinced that Sewing’s team would deliver cost reductions that were promised earlier this year as part of the strategic overhaul.

“Deutsche Bank remains a leading European and global franchise,” Hudson said in its statement. “A repaired balance sheet, ample liquidity, strong home market fundamentals and the first profitable year in four years expected in 2018 provide the first solid basis from which to build since the financial crisis.”

Sewing, a retail banking veteran, said that he welcomed the investment.

“We appreciate Hudson Executive’s confidence in our ability to execute on our strategic objectives,” he said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Deutsche Bank reported profit before tax of €506 million ($577 million) in the third quarter. But the CEO also acknowledged the unfinished work represented by a 9% decline in revenue.

“We have not yet achieved a turnaround in terms of revenues. We must therefore sustain our efforts to grow revenues across our businesses,” he said.

Other major shareholders in Deutsche Bank include Chinese conglomerate HNA and the investment fund BlackRock (BLK).