Inside the £680m Henderson European trust merger

‘Zero issue being FTSE 250 size’

So far, 2024 has been a record-breaking year for investment trust mergers, as companies compete in an ever-shrinking pool. But for the recently formed Henderson European trust (HET), this combination was arguably years in the making.

Back in July, shareholders in the Henderson EuroTrust (HNE) and Henderson European Focus (HEFT) trusts voted to come together to create a £680m FTSE 250 vehicle. Shareholders approve Henderson European merger to create £680m trust Jamie Ross of HNE and Tom O'Hara of HEFT, who now co-run HET, sat down with Investment Week to explain the behind scenes of how the initial idea of merging came into being, and how the overall process worked. When the respective trusts individually launched, HEFT was more value focused while HNE took a more quality growth blend approach and emphasised the...