UK asset manager Threadneedle Investments has announced that it will rename its business as Columbia Threadneedle Investments, as it merges with its US-based associate, Columbia Management, in the first half of 2015.
The merger combines the resources of Threadneedle and Columbia, which is the 11th largest manager of long-term mutual fund assets in the US.
Columbia has assets under management (AUM) of $358 billion (€302.2 billion), making the combined AUM of the two firms €404.2 billion, spread across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, multi-assets and alternatives.
Columbia and Threadneedle already have the same parent, US financial services firm Ameriprise Financial, and together form the 30th largest global asset management group, Threadneedle says.
The creation of the new organisation, which will be called Columbia Threadneedle Investments, is intended to reinforce the firms’ established markets in the UK, Europe and the US, and allow the group to grow its presence in Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments will be introduced in the first half of this year, coinciding with Threadneedle’s move to a new London head office at Cannon Place, but the investment strategies and processes of both firms will not change.
Campbell Fleming, chief executive officer of Threadneedle, says: “As affiliated firms, Threadneedle and Columbia have been increasingly working together over the past two years to increase the breadth and depth of our offering to clients.”
He adds that combining both firms under a single brand was a natural next step, particularly when looking to compete as a global player.
There will be no change to the corporate structure or regulated entities as a result of the new brand, Threadneedle says.
©2015 funds europe
