The addition, pending shareholder approval in April 2009, would create a combined fund family offering investors 35 mutual funds in no-load and load-share classes with more than $3.7 billion in assets under management, according to Forward.
Following shareholder approval, Kensington Funds will be branded as Forward Funds. The Kensington Select Income Fund, the Kensington Global Infrastructure Fund and the Kensington Strategic Realty, will maintain their investment strategies and continue to be managed by current portfolio managers.
Kensington’s Global and International Real Estate Funds will merge to create the Forward International Real Estate Fund. The portfolio will continue to be co-managed by Paul Gray and Michael McGowan.
Additionally, Kensington Real Estate Securities Fund will merge into Forward Real Estate Fund. Forward Real Estate Fund was launched in 1999 is managed by Richard Imperiale. The management transition of these funds will bring additional expertise and resources that will allow Kensington’s real estate investment team to gain an increased focus on the international arena.
Alan Reid, Jr, CEO of Forward Management, said: Kensington’s investment team has built deep expertise in global real estate and infrastructure – the Global Infrastructure Fund invests in companies that may benefit from economic stimulus packages and the Select Income Fund offers investors the potential to generate significant income.
John Kramer, president of Kensington, added: Joining forces with Forward will provide our team with the resources and capacity to run our funds more effectively and efficiently, while allowing us to focus further on performance and clients.
