Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Columbia Threadneedle Investments is shutting its standalone UK smaller companies division as investors pull money ahead of a UK Budget that could further undermine confidence in the ailing sector.
The US fund group, which manages about $672bn globally, is merging the UK small cap team into its wider European smaller companies unit, which it said was aimed at using resources “in the most efficient way”.
The move comes amid a broader restructuring and job cuts at the fund manager, which also confirmed that Catherine Stanley, co-head of UK equities, and fund manager Gordon Happell, will leave the firm.
The decision to close the division comes at a difficult period for smaller UK stocks as investors pull money from the sector, which has underperformed the FTSE 250 and blue-chip stocks. Aim shares have dropped…
