Ivory and Sime was an investment management company established in the late 19th century.
History
The company was founded by two accountants, James Ivory and Thomas Watson Sime, in 1895. It took over the management of
British Assets Trust when it was established in 1898. Other major investment trusts established by the company included
Personal Assets Trust which was formed in 1983.
The company struggled to maintain its clients in the 1990s's and, in particular, lost the contract to manage the
Merchant Navy Pension Fund in 1994 and the contract to manage the
BAA Pension Fund in 1997. After senior staff started leaving, it was announced, in November 1997, that the business would be merged with the asset management arm of
Friends Provident
Friends’ Provident Insurance was a banking institution founded in 1832 to serve the needs of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Based in Bradford, it concentrated on sickness and annuity policies until its life fund acquired Century Insurance ...
, the mutual life assurer, in a deal worth £132 million, thereby creating Friends Ivory & Sime. Following the transaction, Friends Provident owned 67% of the combined entity.
In 2002, Friends Ivory & Sime merged with
Royal & Sun Alliance Investments and was rebranded as Isis Asset Management and, in 2004, the expanded business merged with
F&C Asset Management
F&C Asset Management Plc was an international asset management company. It was acquired by Bank of Montreal in 2014, and renamed as BMO Asset Management (Holdings) Plc in 2018. Its head office was in the City of London in Exchange House, Primrose ...
and adopted the F&C brand.
References
Investment management companies of the United Kingdom
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