Niven: How £2.5bn Foreign and Colonial trust has benefitted from BMO deal

Paul Niven, manager of the £2.5bn Foreign and Colonial investment trust, said he has already started tapping into the resources on offer following BMO's acquisition of F&C earlier this year.

The manager said the takeover has helped the UK's third largest investment trust access new opportunities, particularly in emerging markets. "The transformation of the group is beneficial, as we now have much broader internal expertise. One area where there has been a tangible change is emerging markets, where LGM Investments (part of BMO Global Asset Management) manages most of our assets," he said. However, Niven stressed the deal would not mean wholesale changes for the trust's portfolio, as many of the vehicle's assets are allocated to external strategies in order to maintain some...