Leading Investment Trusts Listed in Germany
Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust PLC
Foreign & Colonial Pacific Investment Trust PLC
Foreign & Colonial Eurotrust PLC
Foreign & Colonial Smaller Companies PLC
Foreign & Colonial Emerging Markets Investment Trust PLC
10 December 1999
FOREIGN & COLONIAL
LISTS LEADING INVESTMENT TRUSTS IN GERMANY
Foreign & Colonial Management (FCM), a leading UK investment management
company, today announces that it has received the necessary regulatory
approvals to list five of the largest investment trusts it manages on the
Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The listings mark the first quotation on a European Stock Exchange of any UK
investment trust and form part of Foreign & Colonial's (F&C) active strategy
of promoting greater liquidity and investor demand for its investment trusts
generally.
The move will also complement F&C's commitment to the AITC's its campaign by
marking the first significant step to increase the market for investment
trusts in Europe.
The investment trusts concerned are:
- Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust
- Foreign & Colonial Pacific Investment Trust
- Foreign & Colonial Eurotrust
- Foreign & Colonial Smaller Companies
- Foreign & Colonial Emerging Markets Investment Trust
Reasons for listing the above investment trusts in Frankfurt include:
- The listings will exploit the opportunity presented by recent legislation
allowing closed end investment funds in Germany;
- F&C believes that the investment trust vehicle is specifically appealing
to the rapidly growing German savings market, which is particularly
attracted by the low-cost structure of such funds;
- The listings, which will involve Euro quotations, will give the trusts
concerned access to investors across the Eurozone as a whole, as well as
specifically within Germany;
- The listings follow the successful listing of Foreign & Colonial
Investment Trust and other investment trusts on the New Zealand Stock
Exchange.
The listings will be sponsored by HypoVereinsbank, FCM's parent company. FCM
already acts as investment adviser for over £6bn of HypoVereinsbank-sourced
German retail money out of London, underlining the highly successful
relationship between the two companies.
Commenting, Jeremy Tigue, F&C's Head of Investment Trusts, said:
'F&C has always been in the forefront of developing new sources of
investor demand for investment trusts. We believe this latest initiative
will enable us to exploit the huge potential of the rapidly growing
German savings market with a broad range of investment trusts - each
recognised as a leader in its chosen field and supported by an excellent
track record'
Commenting on today's announcement Robert Jenkins, Chief Executive of FCM,
said:
'Whether in the fields of corporate governance, savings & pension fund
product development, share buy-backs or management fees, Foreign &
Colonial remains at the forefront of innovation in the investment trust
industry.
'The move announced today to list our leading managed investment trusts
on Continental Europe's largest Stock Exchange is the latest example of
such innovation and is a further illustration of the uniquely successful
working relationship between F&C and HypoVereinsbank in action'
For further information please contact:
Jeremy Tigue
Director, Head of Investment Trusts
Foreign & Colonial Management 0171 628 8000
Charles Watson, Claire Barry
Financial Dynamics 0171 831 3113
Attached: Notes to Editors
NOTES TO EDITORS
- German Retail Market
During the last decade the German retail savings market was driven by a shift
in investors' sentiment. Mutual funds under management increased from
DM128 billion in the year 1990 to DM 564 billion in September 1999. Equity
funds especially became more and more important, as the investors took
advantage of the booming stock market. Nevertheless, at the end of 1998
mutual funds amounted to only 8.4 % of the DM 5.7 trillion of German retail
savings.
- HypoVereinsbank
The formation of HypoVereinsbank created the largest real estate financier in
Europe and Germany's second largest bank, serving more than 4 million
customers. The activities are focused on four core competencies: mortgage
banking, asset management, structured finance and selected financial products.
With a staff of almost 45,000 employees HypoVereinsbank operates a network of
more than 1,400 branches throughout Germany and Europe as well as in selected
financial centres world-wide.
FCM is a 90% owned subsidiary of HypoVereinsbank.
- Foreign & Colonial
Foreign & Colonial Management, including Foreign & Colonial Emerging Markets
Limited and F&C Ventures Limited, now manages twelve UK-quoted investment
trusts, as well as a number of SIB authorised unit trusts, Luxembourg based
companies, specialist offshore funds, exempt funds, Dublin-listed trusts and a
New York Stock Exchange-listed company.
The combined Foreign & Colonial institutional and retail funds under
management totals over £25 billion.
Foreign & Colonial created the world's first collective investment vehicle in
1868 - the same year Gladstone first became Prime Minster - raising £1,000,000
to invest in the government securities of foreign countries and colonial
territories. The Evening Star - as well as a number of other London papers -
quoted this phrase from the prospectus: 'The object of this Trust is to give
the investor of moderate means the same advantages as the large capitalist in
diminishing the risk of investing in Foreign and Colonial Government Stocks,
by spreading the investment over a number of different Stocks'.
The investment trust industry was born from this; in March 1868, Foreign &
Colonial was the only investment trust quoted on the London Stock Exchange.
Now there are over 350 quoted investment trusts representing over £60 billion
under management.
Since those pioneering days, Foreign & Colonial has added a number of other
'firsts' which have also been copied by its competitors, for example, the
launch of the first investment trust share savings plan in 1984 and the launch
of the first investment trust based pension plan in 1994.
The listing coincides with the commencement of NAVs being quoted on a daily
basis.
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