Michel Canoy has been the lead manager of the L&G Managed Monthly Income Trust since he took over form Dickie Hodges in March this year.
The proposal is for his £53.81m fund to receive the assets of the £304.1m L&G Monthly Income Trust – that he also runs – as well as £34.6m from the L&G Barclays Monthly Income Trust, currently run by BlackRock which has indicated its desire to resign as manager.
L&G said the Managed Monthly Income Trust (MMIT) and Monthly Income Trust (MIT) have the same named investment manager and very similar investment objectives and policies.
The main difference is that MMIT uses high-yield securities as part of its investment strategy but MIT currently does not. The existing MMIT strategy is being proposed to apply to the combined assets, so although it is the smaller fund, it will receive the assets.
L&G added that since the Barclays MIT fund is changing manager, it is also appropriate for it to merge into the existing assets, which are run in accordance with how the mandate will be managed on a continuing basis.
While still subject to regulatory approval, the aim is to have this completed in January.
The business rational is that the three funds have similar objectives and streamlining the bond income fund range will allow economies of scale that are to the investors and L&G’s benefit.
