Janus, Henderson to form giant

New York

THE Janus Capital Group and the Henderson Group, a large London-based investment manager, said on Monday that they would merge in an all-stock deal that would create an asset manager with greater global scale and about US$320 billion of assets under management.

The deal - creating a company to be called Janus Henderson Global Investors - highlights the extent to which smaller mutual fund companies that focus on actively managed investment offerings are feeling the pressure from the explosive growth of lower cost, passive strategies such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs).