Fund Times: December 20 - 24
Henderson Moves on Gartmore; Neptune to Close Fixed Income Range; UBS to launch EM Equity Income fund.
Henderson confirmed in the week before Christmas that it was in takeover discussions with Gartmore. Speculation around the deal suggested that it would need to proceed quickly, with the aim of preserving value in the business and increasing the likelihood of Henderson retaining key Gartmore fund managers. By Christmas Eve though, there was still no word of a deal being confirmed.
Neptune to Close Fixed Income Range
Neptune has announced it will terminate its fixed income range of funds, citing low demand for the products. The group has also voiced concerns of a possible fixed income bubble, with government bonds trading at low yields, and very large flows having gone into fixed income funds in 2009 and 2010. The product range includes the Neptune Corporate Bond and International Bond funds. We generally like to see fund houses focusing on their core strengths which in Neptune’s case, is equities, managed using their thematic investment process which has generated success across a range of Neptune funds. The decision to close the bond funds thus appears to make sense, although it may present cost or inconvenience for existing investors in the funds.
UBS Emerging Markets Equity Income to Launch
UBS plans to launch an emerging markets equity income fund in January 2011. The fund will be managed by Urs Antonioli who has run the Luxembourg domiciled UBS EF Emerging Market fund since September 2003. Morningstar analysts have noted a handful of emerging market income focused product launches in recent years, although most of these have focused more specifically on the Asian portion of emerging markets.