Wealth manager St James’s Place is to merge four of its UK equity income funds to create a single £4.3bn UK Equity Income fund.

The four funds to be merged as the Allshare Income, Equity Income, UK Income and UK and International Income funds.

The consolidated fund’s investment objective, policy, benchmark and manager line-up will all change on completion of the merger, which SJP said will streamline and simplify its offering.

It will aim to be at least 80% invested in UK equities, but will also invest in other asset classes including global equities, global fixed interest, and index-linked securities.

The new fund will retain managers from Artemis and Redwheel and will add J.P.Morgan Asset Management to the manager list.

Tom Beal, director of investments at SJP, said: “As part of our 2025 strategy we’re building a fund range that is underpinned by multi-manager funds, rather than single manager strategies. This is because we believe that by blending complementary managers together we can generate more consistent returns for our clients.

“The proposed changes will streamline and simplify our offering, merging four similar funds into one multi-manager building block. The solution will be diversified across managers with a blend of complementary styles, offering greater potential for more consistent, long-term performance. Multi-manager funds also give us increased flexibility and agility if we need to change managers.”

SJP reported a fall of nearly £12bn in Funds Under Management for the six months ended 30 June. 

The company said “significant reversals” in global markets hit FUM which fell from by £11.7bn from £154bn to £142.3bn.

Gross inflows were also down at £9.1 billion (2021: £9.2 billion) but net inflows were stable at £5.5 billion (2021: £5.5 billion).

However, SJP said it expects full year gross and net flows of around £18 billion and £11 billion respectively, which would make 2022 its second highest ever year for flows and put the business even ahead of its 2025 business plan objectives.