M&G’s long history of innovation began in 1931 when it launched the first unit trust in Britain, the First British Fixed Trust. The idea was brought to Britain by a stockbroker impressed by the way that American mutual funds had withstood the shock of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. The new fund invested in the shares of 24 leading companies and later became the M&G Blue Chip Fund. In 2006 this fund was merged into the M&G UK Growth Fund.
Expansion
Since the launch of the first unit trust, M&G's development has continued to include an impressive array of UK 'firsts', including the M&G Thrift Plan in 1954, the M&G Personal Pension Plan in 1968 and the M&G Japan and General Fund (a pioneer of overseas unit trusts) in 1971.
The M&G Group
M&G continued to expand after its acquisition by Prudential in 1999. It now runs operations in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and Italy.
Prudential Portfolio Managers (PPM), Prudential's institutional fund management arm, integrated with M&G in 2001 to create a single investment brand. The PPM brand continues in South Africa, while PPM Ventures is a leading source of private equity finance with offices in London, Paris, Munich and Sydney.
Prudential Property Investment Managers (PruPIM), part of the M&G Group, is one of the largest institutional property investors in the UK, with growing investment in the international property market. Domestically, it manages over 1,000 investment properties within 14 portfolios.
Headline figures
— M&G's net inflows for the first half of 2009
were £8.6 billion, an increase of 254 per cent
— Record gross inflows of £12.6 billion,
an increase of 69 per cent on the previous year
— Operating profit of £75 million down from
£113 million in the same period in 2008
M&G independently manages assets on behalf
of a wide range of retail and institutional investors.
Retail business
— Open Ended Investment Companies (OEICs)
and Unit Trusts (UTs)
— Investment Trusts (ITs)
— Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs)
M&G and Prudential branded mutual funds are
distributed to retail investors in the UK, Europe,
Asia and South Africa. M&G manages £23.3 billion
of retail assets, invested in equities, fixed income
and property.
At 30 June 2009, M&G was the largest provider
of Fixed income products in the UK retail market
(Source: Lipper FMI).
Institutional business
— Segregated equity and fixed interest, pooled
pension funds, structured and private finance
— Macro Investment Business
— Institutional customers include pension funds,
insurance companies and other financial institutions
M&G manages £32.6 billion of institutional assets,
invested in equities, fixed income and property.
Internal business
M&G manages assets on behalf of Prudential's
long-term business funds, including with-profits
and unit-linked funds, annuities and corporate
pension products.
M&G manages £93 billion of assets on behalf of
Prudential Group companies, invested in equities,
fixed income and property.
Customers: Around 0.5 million
Staff: 1,000+
Locations: UK London, Chelmsford
Europe Austria, France, Germany, Italy,
Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland
Other South Africa, Namibia, Chile
Also part of M&G
— Prudential Property Investment Managers
(PRUPIM)
— Prudential Portfolio Managers South Africa
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