Franklin Templeton Buys Rensburg Funds Management
Franklin Templeton announced on 18 November that it would acquire Leeds-based Rensburg Funds Management from Investec for £45 million. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is planned to be completed in early 2011. Franklin hopes to strengthen its UK presence on the back of the deal. Morningstar and OBSR (a Morningstar company) have qualitative ratings on various Rensburg and Franklin Templeton funds, but no ratings have changed as a result of the deal. Rensburg had been subject to some uncertainty as it was widely speculated that Investec would sell the business following their acquisition of Rensburg Sheppards. This announcement eliminates much of the uncertainty and this will hopefully be a positive for Rensburg fund investors.
Blackrock Plan to Loan Out Fund Assets
It was reported this week that Blackrock will launch a stock lending programme over 37 if its retail funds. 60% of the income will apparently go to fund investors, while 40% will go to Blackrock. Blackrock has an existing stock lending arrangement on some funds, where investors reap 70% of the income. It was unclear why the level is different for investors under the new arrangement. Many asset managers implement stock lending arrangements but the proportion of the benefit that is shared with fund investors varies widely among asset houses. Stock lending is perhaps an area where investors could potentially benefit from increased transparency.
AEGON Launches Retail Inflation Fund
AEGON has created a retail share class for its AEGON Inflation Fund. The fund aims to mitigate inflationary risks by investing in inflation linked assets, which could include inflation linked bonds, equities, currencies, commodities and cash. The fund is managed by Stephen Jones who heads AEGON’s rates desk, but it will take time for him to prove a track record running a fund which invests across such a diverse range of assets.