On 29 August 2023, the Bank of Lithuania granted authorisation to INVL Asset Management to transfer the management of pension and retail investment funds managed by INVL Asset Management, including the INVL Baltic Fund (ISIN LTIF00000096) and the INVL Emerging Europe Bond Subfund (ISIN LTIF00000468), to the asset management company SB Asset Management (legal entity code: 306241274, registered office address: Gynėjų g. 14, Vilnius), established by Šiaulių bankas.
As previously announced, the transfer of funds management is part of the merger agreement concluded on 22 November 2022 between Invalda INVL and Šiaulių bankas Group to merge part of retail businesses, including asset management for retail customers and life insurance. The management of the funds is expected to be transferred to the new management company on 1 December 2023.
At the same time, it is intended to amend the operating documents (rules, prospectuses, and other documents) of the funds accordingly, where the fund management company INVL Asset Management will be replaced by SB Asset Management (simultaneously changing all the contact details of the fund management company). The change to the funds’ rules and other documents is considered to be material. The amendments will come into effect at the earliest on the date of transfer of the funds management. No other changes to the funds’ rules or other documents are foreseen because of the transfer of management, and all other terms and conditions of investment in the funds will remain unchanged. Should such changes be made in the future, investors will be notified separately.
“The Bank of Lithuania’s approval of the transfer of asset management is another important milestone in this transaction, which shows that the merger is going smoothly and transparently. INVL and Šiaulių bankas’ teams are working closely together so that we can complete the merger of the retail businesses later this year, as planned, and become one team with the best experience and competences from both sides,” says Laura Križinauskienė, CEO of INVL Asset Management.
The merger of the retail businesses is expected to bring more value to customers, employees, and investors. Existing INVL customers will continue to benefit from professional savings, investment, and life insurance solutions and will have additional access to other banking services.
Fund investors are not required to take any action as a result of these changes but have the right to redeem their investment units in the applicable fund. As before, no redemption fees will be applicable.