Corporate confusion

GOSLING'S GROUSE

Every now and then, there is a bit of corporate activity involving an asset management company, which many advisers must read about and shrug their shoulders, wondering what the relevance of it all is.

Of course, in the case of Henderson buying New Star and Gartmore, the importance is obvious. You look at the deal and think: do I stay or do I go? Naturally, that is largely dependent on which fund managers stay and what happens to your clients’ funds. But at the moment, we have the ‘battle’ – if that is the right word – over F&C, which must leave many advisers wondering what to think. Sherborne – what is known as an ‘activist’ investor – is lobbying the board of F&C, accusing it of running the business poorly from the perspective of shareholder return. It is also proposing new member...