Henderson is to merge two of its emerging market equity funds into a single vehicle as it overhauls its offering in the asset class.
The asset manager is set to merge its Institutional Emerging Markets fund into former First State manager Glen Finegan’s Emerging Markets Opportunities fund next month.
The move will push the latter portfolio above the £150m mark and coincides with what the manager described as a “reboot or restart” of the Edinburgh-based emerging market team at the fund house.
Henderson will be adding another member of staff to the team in the next few weeks as it seeks to build on Mr Finegan’s arrival.
Mr Finegan joined at the start of last year after the firm identified emerging markets as an area of weakness in its equity range.
The Emerging Markets Opportunities fund has shed 14.4 per cent over the past 12 months, according to FE Analytics.
Given the asset class’s struggles, the performance ranks the fund first quartile in the IA Global Emerging Markets sector, which shed an average 17.7 per cent over the same period.
Mr Finegan has brought a similar philosophy to the one he employed at First State.
The manager invests in frontier as well as traditional developing markets, and also buys UK-listed companies such as Unilever, which derive much of their business from the emerging world.
