abrdn’s Closed-End Business Gets Boost with £600m Acquisition from First Trust

Oct 24, 2023 | News

abrdn to acquire £600m closed-end fund assets from First Trust Advisors. To be merged into existing funds. 

abrdn’s US arm is set to acquire £600m in assets from four closed-end funds managed by First Trust Advisors, subject to regulatory approval.

Under the deal, the four closed-end funds will be merged into existing abrdn funds.

 The abrdn Global Infrastructure Income fund will absorb the Macquarie/First Trust Global Infrastructure/Utilities Dividend & Income fund, while the First Trust Specialty Finance and Financial Opportunities fund will merge into the abrdn Total Dynamic Dividend fund.

Likewise, the First Trust High Income Long/Short fund and the First Trust/abrdn Global Opportunity Income fund will merge into the abrdn Income Credit Strategies fund. 

The move will boost abrdn’s already considerable closed-end business, which, according to the company, currently manages £23.8bn in assets in US and UK listed closed-end funds.

This marks the third acquisition for abrdn in this space over the past 12 months, making it, by its own calculations, the third-largest manager of closed-end funds globally.

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Stephen Bird, abrdn CEO, said: “The acquisition of these four closed-end funds is another clear statement of intent from abrdn, as we continue to focus on the areas of investing where we have global scale and competitive advantage.”

Consolidating these funds into existing abrdn funds brings economies of scale, he added, and “represents further disciplined allocation of shareholder capital that is fully aligned to our strategy”.

Source: Investment Week

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