JP Morgan’s Global Growth & Income trust, one of the most popular investment trusts on the market, is set to take over a smaller competitor run by Janus Henderson.
The £3.1bn JP Morgan trust has launched a takeover of the £329m Henderson International Income trust, the two funds announced in a stock exchange notice today.
The trusts noted significant overlap exists between their top shareholders, with 85 per cent of Henderson’s shareholders also being shareholders in JP Morgan Global Growth & Income.
If the deal goes ahead, charges will fall from 0.77 per cent for Henderson’s investors to 0.42 per cent.
The trust’s new board would consist of six directors from JP Morgan’s trust and one from the Henderson trust, with the Henderson director stepping down after 12 months.
“The board believes that the proposed combination will provide shareholders with access to a larger, more liquid vehicle with an outstanding track record and a history of growing dividends whilst focusing on the most attractive investment opportunities,” said Richard Hills, chair of Henderson International Income trust.
“Having consulted a number of our largest shareholders who have indicated their support, we believe the combination is very attractive for shareholders as a whole.”
JP Morgan Global Growth & Income’s largest holdings include Amazon (6.8 per cent of assets), Microsoft (6.7 per cent), and Nvidia (5.6 per cent).
JP Morgan Global Growth & Income’s performance record
JP Morgan Global Growth & Income was the second most popular trust across all investment platforms in 2024, according to data from Deutsche Numis, falling behind only Scottish Mortgage.
The popularity among retail investors has come partially from the JP Morgan trust’s strong performance, with its underlying assets growing 49.2 per cent in the last three years compared to Henderson’s 17.8 per cent.
This compares to a 31.9 per cent return across all global equity income trusts, according to data from the Association of Investment Companies.
JP Morgan’s trust also manages to be one of the few in the investment trust sector to trade at a slight premium to underlying assets, while Henderson’s has been trading on a 12.1 per cent discount.