Schroders to merge offshore fund ranges

29 June 2012 | By Gary Jackson

According to Schroders, the move was prompted by changes in Ucits regulation to allow sub-funds to invest in other sub-funds of the same company.

The eight funds in the Luxembourg-domiciled Strategic Solutions range, which had assets under management of about €575m (£460m)*, will be merged into the €46.87 billion* ISF line on July 2.

Through the move, the Schroder Strategic Solutions Global Diversified Growth, Asian Diversified Growth, Japan DGF, Global Dynamic Balanced, Global Conservative, Balanced Portfolio, Conservative Portfolio and Growth Portfolio funds will be rebranded under the Schroder ISF name.

The sub-funds have already been entered onto the FSA Register under the Schroder ISF umbrella.

Explaining the rationale for the merger, Schroders’ proposal states that the Strategic Solutions range was established because of restrictions on cross holdings within a company. The eight funds primarily invest in the portfolios in the ISF line.

However, these restrictions were removed when the latest version of Ucits was implemented in December 2010.

“After considerable analysis and review, the [Strategic Solutions] board has concluded that the merger would be to the benefit of shareholders and will achieve economies of scale,” the statement reports.

Schroders adds that the Strategic Solutions funds will operate under “broadly” the same investment criteria and strategy after being added to the ISF range.

^{*As at January 31, 2012}

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