Foreign & Colonial takeover by Isis a brave move in uncertain times

Fund Group Focus

Isis and Foreign & Colonial appear be an odd couple. The former is the fund management business Frie...

Isis and Foreign & Colonial appear be an odd couple. The former is the fund management business Friends Ivory & Sime, which was most closely associated with the ethical investment policy eschewed by its majority shareholder Friends Provident. The latter runs the UK's oldest investment trust: one of the lingering corporate reminders of Britain's long-passed dominance of global commerce. The takeover of Foreign & Colonial by Isis is perhaps the most bullish act by a retail fund manager this year. The acquisition, which was paid for by Friends Provident's issue of new paper, showed Isis was d...