IMA to merge with ABI investment division

The Investment Management Association is to merge with the Association of British Insurers' investment affairs unit in a bid to give fund managers a single, stronger representative voice.

IMA chief executive Daniel Godfrey (pictured) will head the new organisation, the name of which has yet to be decided, with around twelve ABI employees moving across, according to Sky News. A new chairman will be found to replace the IMA's Dougie Ferrans, who will leave later this year. The merger is aimed at boosting fund managers' ability to influence listed companies' policies on governance, pay and stewardship. It comes at a time when other investors, such as hedge funds, hold an increasingly significant proportion of UK shares at the expense of traditional fund managers. Th...