Invesco to shrink fund roster after Van Kampen closing

Invesco Ltd. anticipates having a total of 130 mutual funds after it completes the integration of the Van Kampen Funds with its Invesco AIM funds in 2011. Invesco announced in October that it was purchasing the Van Kampen Funds Inc. from Morgan Stanley for $1.5 billion. With the addition of the Van Kampen Funds, Invesco saw its combined lineup jump from 100 funds to 240, said Bruce L. Crockett, the independent chairman of AIM Funds in an interview. Now Invesco’s board and executives are discussing which funds to merge and they anticipate paring down the roster to 130 funds by the end of the integration, which will take place within the 12 months after the acquisition closes, Mr. Crockett said. The deal is expected to close by the end of June. Invesco will likely keep certain Van Kampen funds — namely municipal bond funds — that the firm doesn’t have in its own lineup, Mr. Crockett said. Just how many portfolio managers would be let go as a result of the fund integration or how many might stay with Morgan Stanley, Mr. Crockett could not say. Back in October, Martin Flanagan, president and chief executive of Invesco, told InvestmentNews that it was unlikely there will be massive layoffs after the integration of the two money management operations. “We don't see a lot of job loss,” Mr. Flanagan said at the time. “To the contrary, this is a real story about growth and opportunity.” While he said he expected most of Van Kampen’s investment management teams to remain intact, he did mention that he wasn’t committed to keeping the unit’s name. “We're going to take a step back and from a client point of view and get feedback,” he said.