Henderson Global Investors and Janus Capital are to merge, forming one of the largest diversified active investment managers in the world.
The announcement was made on the London Stock Exchange this morning, and is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Completion, if approved, is likely in the second quarter of next year.
Total assets under management of the new group, which will be known as Janus Henderson Global Investors, will be over US$320 billion.
In a statement from Henderson the reasons for the merger were outlined, including a:
- wider range of outperforming actively managed funds and strategies across all major asset classes and sectors;
- deeper, more scalable product offering to meet the evolving needs of an increasingly sophisticated client base;
- superior client service built on a broader distribution footprint and enhanced client service infrastructure.
Head of Investment Research at Hargreaves Lansdown Mark Dampier had this to say about the merger: “On the face of it, the deal makes a lot of sense and the groups complement each other. Scale can help keep costs down for fund groups, allowing them to offer more competitive fund pricing, while still delivering good active performance.
“The fund management industry is polarising, with the likes of Henderson and Janus seeing the benefits of scale at one end, and smaller boutique fund management groups focusing on niche propositions at the other. Those in the middle will need to be on their game to keep up.
“Generally I’m not a huge fan of mergers as it can unsettle fund managers, and we will be monitoring the situation closely on behalf of our clients. However in the short term investors have nothing to worry about, as it will be very much business as usual for the time being.”
