Henderson Group plc, the parent company of Henderson Global, has announced that it has acquired New Star Management plc.

In November last year New Star announced that they were temporarily suspending their International Property Fund has temporarily due to an increase in the level of redemptions from the Fund, mainly from a few institutional clients. December 2008 brought further woe for the company with news that they had been forced to temporarily suspend dealing on a second fund, its Heart of Africa Fund. The firm said this is due to illiquid sub-Saharan markets.

The new managers of the combined Henderson UK fund have been confirmed - Richard Pease, Guy de Blonay, Nick Sheridan, James Gledhill, Roger Dossett, Mark Harris, Craig Heron, Trevor Green and Simon Rowe are now all members of Henderson's investment team base within the city of London. They will continue to manage the same funds as they did at New Star. The other New Star funds have been appointed a Henderson fund manager to provide a greater potential for improving the investment performance for investors in those funds.

The sales and marketing teams have been combined. The next milestone of the integration progress is expected to be in May 2009, consisting of the brand integration of the UK retail business under the Henderson New Star brand.

Chief executive of Henderson Group plc, Andrew Formica, commented: "We are delighted to have reached this stage so quickly after announcing the deal just nine weeks ago. The combined UK retail business reflects the strengths of both businesses, the security and stability of Henderson, which was 75 years old last month, with the well documented innovative approach for which New Star is known."

He continued: "For inventors in New Star funds they need no longer worry about New Star's financial position or further corporate. This is a fresh start for investors in New Star funds and our number one priority is to get back the levels of performance that investors in these funds expect for us their investment managers."

David Jacob, CIO, Listed Assets at Henderson Global Investors, added: "We believe that the combined fund management talent of the two businesses offers a much stronger level of expertise, experience and resource. The combination of fund managers is an excellent fit on a number of levels."

Share Story: