The merger, which is planned for 4 January and subject to shareholder approval, is taking place because of the small size of Ken Hsia’s Investec European Fund.
Investec said the IMA Europe ex UK sector has “declined in popularity and size over recent years” with assets under management falling from £38bn to £26bn over the past five years. This sentiment has been “reflected” in the size of the Investec European Fund, the asset manager added.
"We believe the current economic circumstances relating to Europe and in particular the eurozone area generally mean that shareholders would benefit from a broader geographical investment remit,” the company said in a statement.
The Investec European Fund returned 24.1% over one year to the end of November, beating the IMA Europe excluding UK sector’s 18.4%. However, the portfolio has underperformed the sector over five and ten years.
The onshore Investec Global Franchise Fund, which is managed by Clyde Rossouw, launched in October this year. Rossouw has managed the Luxembourg-domiciled version of the fund since it launched in July 2009.
