Hermes Fund Managers, the asset manager owned by the £34.1 billion ($53.2 billion) BT Pension Scheme, London, has set up a new U.K.-based subsidiary called Hermes Asset Ownership Services.
The new company was incorporated on Aug. 11, according to a filing with Companies House, the official U.K. government register of firms. There is one director listed so far, Hermes' legal director Michelle Green. Hermes' corporate spokesman did not provide any further details.
It's not immediately clear how the new arrival will sit alongside Hermes Equity Ownership Services, the arm that helps institutional investors as active owners of companies. The launch comes in the context of the U.K.'s new Stewardship Code, where the onus will increasingly be on investors to monitor the companies in which they own stakes.
Hermes EOS was set up in 2004 and now has 19 clients globally with more than £60 billion in assets under advisement.
Daniel Brooksbank is editor of Responsible Investor.
