United we stand in the investment marketplace.

Investment Adviser, April, 2007

First it was the acquisition of Aon's UK multi-manager business by Close Investments. Then, in rapid succession, Barclays revealed it was in merger talks with ABN Amro, while Jupiter announced a management buyout from owners Commerzbank, to be backed by TA Associates, the US private equity firm.

So do these deals mean the start of a trend in the investment management marketplace? And is this good or bad news for investors?

Growing trend

According to Jon Horton, financial planner at IFAs Chamberlain de Broe, consolidation in the industry is well-established for specific types of company. He said: "For a number of years, there has been a trend for investment boutiques to be snapped up by the bigger fund managers. They appeal to the bigger...

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