F&C bought by Bank of Montreal 

Foreign & Colonial have announced that they have agreed a deal to be acquired by the Bank of Montreal. Clients that have ethical investment requirements may have holdings in F&C funds who have a history of providing ethically screened investment funds. As with many investment companies, the printers are probably the ones most delighted by the news, having to reprint all branded stationery.

F&C Management was established in 1972. In 2001 F&C Management was acquired by financial services group Eureko, and the European presence of F&C was expanded through the in integration of fund management businesses in the Netherlands, Portugal and Ireland. In 2004 F&C Management merged with ISIS Asset Management and obtained its stock market listing as F&C Asset Management PLC. In 2009 F&C was de-merged from Friends Provident, achieving full independence for the first time. In 2010 F&C acquired the boutique asset manager Thames River Capital, bringing additional Investment and distribution capability to the group.

Oh Canada

As you may gather, the current Governor of the Bank of England is Canadian, whilst here in the UK the Canadian economy and stock market may not get that much coverage, the value of its stock market at the end of 2012 was 4% of the world stock market. Germany makes up 3% and France 3%. The UK 7%, Japan 7% and USA 46%…. and if you are interested China 2%. I shall be monitoring progress of the takeover and how this may impact investors. However the Canadians do seem rather more sensible than most when it comes to Banking and are of course one of our greatest allies.

Dominic Thomas: Solomons IFA