Henderson plans €392m SRI funds merger

Asset manager Henderson Global Investors is proposing to merge its £225m (€267m) Global Care Growth fund with its £107m (€127m) Industries of the Future fund.

“The combined fund will also allow for greater leverage in advocating for more progressive social and environmental practices with investee companies,” Henderson said. The merged £332m (€392m) fund will continue to be managed by Tim Dieppe.
The move comes as Henderson, a founding signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, is in the process of acquiring rival fund manager Gartmore.

The fund will retain ethical criteria such as the negative screens on tobacco, pornography, gambling and armaments, Henderson said. The funds’ remit is toinvest in responsible companies providing solutions to social and environmental challenges.
It added it would undertake a client survey to ensure the merged fund reflects the “views and objectives of its clients as a whole” – as well as the underlying proposition of a ‘solutions-oriented’ fund.

The deadline for responses to the survey is March 20 ahead of an extraordinary general meeting scheduled for April 28. The funds are set to merge in mid-May 2011. Henderson, which has £56.4bn in assets under management, said the move is subject to approval by the Financial Services Authority.

Earlier this month the firm said it planned to merge five multi-manager funds, leading to the departure of fund managers Mark Harris and Craig Heron. Henderson announcement