Sentinel to acquire socially responsible fund firm

FWR Staff

14 November 2007

National Life subsidiary plans to create "sustainable investment" programs. Sentinel Investments, the money-management unit of Montpelier, Vt.-based National Life Group has agreed to buy Citizens Advisers' "socially responsible" Citizen Funds in a bid to boost its roster of "sustainable investment" offerings.

"Citizens is known for its leadership in and commitment to socially responsible investing and we see this acquisition as a good fit and a natural extension of our corporate growth strategy," says Christian Thwaites, president and CEO of Sentinel's investment advisory Sentinel Asset Management.

Ethics

Pending an OK from Citizens' shareholders, Sentinel will re-organize Citizens' eight funds -- which account for assets of about $800 million -- creating new Sentinel funds from some and folding others into existing Sentinel pools. Stemming from that, Sentinel will launch two "Sentinel Responsible Investing" funds -- a large-cap SRI Core Opportunities Funds and a mid-cap SRI Emerging Companies Fund -- using Citizens' social screening process and proxy voting guidelines.

Sophia Collier, president and CEO of Citizens Funds' investment advisory, says that she and her partners chose to work with Sentinel "because we believe it is a highly ethical firm with a disciplined investment process, a strong management team and a keen interest in serving the investment needs of socially responsible investors."

Sentinel manages approximately $18 billion in mutual funds and institutional accounts. -FWR

Purchase reproduction rights to this article.