Significant M&A deals this year have increased the scale of wealth management groups, leading to the shunning of specialist and boutique investment trusts.
In February, NatWest struck a £2.7bn deal for Evelyn Partners, before Nuveen snapped up Schroders later that month for £9.9bn, with the latter's CEO, Richard Oldfield, confirming its wealth management arm, Cazenove Capital, would not be sold off. This increase of scale has had consequences for others in the investment sector. Charlotte Cuthbertson, co-manager of the MIGO Opportunities trust, explained that wealth managers are "bolstering" the sector as big-ticket buyers, but "as they grow larger, so do their minimum investment sizes, making many smaller and mid-sized trusts effectivel...
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