Unviable Invest & Give fund to be axed
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Invest & Give, an investment fund that supports The Prince’s Trust, is winding up after failing to attract enough assets to make it viable.
The multi-manager fund, run by John Husselbee at North Investment Partners, launched last year and had the backing of 12 UK fund groups.
The plan was to donate 0.6 per cent of the fund’s total annual charge of 2.25 per cent directly to The Prince’s Trust through the sale of shares twice each year.
Despite an intermediary campaign during which former Smith & Williamson head of distribution Angus Duncan was hired in March, the fund only attracted marginal assets.
Money Marketing flagged up criticisms of the fund in August last year when Arch Financial Planning managing director Arthur Childs questioned how charitable a role the fund industry was playing in the venture.
Childs argued that the discounts on charges offered by its 12 founding partners - including Artemis, F&C and Threadneedle - were not that great and that the IFAs and the investors were the real contributors.
A statement on Investandgive.co.uk says: “The cost of running an unviable fund would become disproportionate, with a constant impact on performance.
“The authorised corporate director, IFDS Managers, has commenced the process of seeking the necessary regulatory approvals to allow an orderly closure of the fund and will contact holders of the fund shortly.”
Duncan’s involvement with the fund will end in the middle of next month.
He says: “Husselbee did well as manager but it proved imp-ossible to break the link that while people give from the heart, they invest with their head. Giving and investing are two very different things.”
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