Invesco has proposed that James Goldstone and Ciaron Mallon should run its newly merged Invesco Perpetual Select UK Equity class portfolio as joint managers.
In a stock exchange announcement today (February 8), the fund manager said its board had decided on a joint manager approach as it believes Mallon’s and Goldstone’s combined skills can deliver attractive returns for shareholders.
It had previously selected Mallon as sole manager after announcing in December that it would merge the Invesco Income and Growth trust with the UK Equity branch of the Perpetual Select trust.
Goldstone, UK Equities fund manager at Invesco, will join Mallon, who has managed Invesco Income Growth Trust’s portfolio since 2005.
The pair have been co-managers of the Invesco UK Equity High Income Fund (UK) and the Invesco UK Equity Income Fund (UK) since May 2020.
According to Invesco, the merger will provide investors with reduced fees and “greater flexibility” and bring the benefits of increased scale, including enhancing market liquidity and the spreading of fixed costs.
Investors will now pay 0.55 per cent on assets up to £100m and 0.5 per cent over £100m, compared to a previous fee of 0.55 per cent on all assets, while a performance fee of 12.5 per cent of net assets above the benchmark plus 1 per cent will be dropped.
The Invesco Perpetual trust is a multi-asset class investment trust with four independently managed share portfolios — the UK equity class involved in the merger is one of the four branches.
This provides investors with exposure to various asset classes, including global equity income, balanced risk allocation and managed liquidity, as the structure permits quarterly conversions between the share classes.
The deal comes after investors in the Income and Growth trust voted against the trust being wound down in September last year.
The merger will see Invesco lose its second trust, after the Perpetual Income and Growth trust, previously run by Mark Barnett, is to be liquidated after merging with Aberdeen Standard's Murray trust.
amy.austin@ft.com
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