Henderson SRI team’s talks with management end

Six-strong team will be made redundant after talks reach no outcome.

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Talks between the socially responsible investing (SRI) team and top management at Henderson Global Investors have ended with no outcome, meaning that the six-strong team is being made redundant as planned.
A spokesman for Henderson Global Investors confirmed that the fund manager’s SRI research team members Seb Beloe, My-Linh Ngo, Bridget Boulle and Hyewon Kong had now left the company. Henderson’s Head of SRI George Latham will stay until the end of the year while SRI fund manager Tim Dieppe will stay until the end of March, 2012.
The spokesman said no serious negotiations took place with another firm about taking over the funds.

In November, Henderson announced that its SRI team had been identified as at risk of redundancy, but that talks were taking place with the team about their future.
The firm’s three global SRI funds – the £126m Global Care Growth, £95m Industries of the Future and £175m Global Care Managed will now be managed by the Henderson Global Equity team headed by Neil Rogan.Its £89m Global Care Income fund and the UK part of the Global Care Managed fund will now be run by Henderson’s Value & Income team. Andrew Jones, co-manager of Henderson’s Higher Income fund, will assume lead management for the UK part of the SRI funds.
Research house EIRIS will provide customised ESG screening for the funds from the start of the New Year.
Henderson’s decision to axe the dedicated SRI team has caused consternation among institutional clients and independent financial advisors (IFAs). Henderson has written to clients explaining its move. But at least one charity client, the £257m (€299m), Tudor Trust charity, has said it is “considering its options” as to whether to keep more than £50m in assets with Henderson following the decision.
Simon Hillenbrand, the manager’s Head of UK Retail business, said: “Henderson continues to believe that good management of a range of responsibilities towards different stakeholders contributes to business success and long-term shareholder value.”