Federated Hermes, Inc., a global leader in active, responsible investing, has reached an agreement to acquire certain investment management related assets of Horizon Advisers and reorganize the portfolios of all nine Hancock Horizon mutual funds into comparable Federated Hermes mutual funds. Through the agreement, approximately $568 million in seven equity and two municipal bond funds will transition to one new and six existing much larger Federated Hermes mutual funds with comparable investment objectives and strategies. Horizon Advisers, an unincorporated division of Hancock Whitney Bank, serves as investment advisor to the Hancock Horizon Funds.
A similar transaction was completed in 2017, when three Hancock Horizon mutual funds were reorganized into comparable Federated Hermes mutual funds. "Federated Hermes is experienced in managing these types of transactions and has a history of providing investment solutions for a variety of market conditions," said Chief Investment Officer for Horizon Advisers David Lundgren. "We at Hancock Advisers are confident in our selection of Federated Hermes as a partner in this transaction, and their actively managed funds serve as a sensible new home to these assets. We also believe that as other shareholders of these nine funds learn about the Federated Hermes mutual funds and focus on their own financial goals and objectives, they will benefit from the opportunity to access Federated Hermes' range of strategies."
The board of directors of Federated Hermes, Inc., the boards of directors/trustees of the Federated Hermes Funds and the board of trustees of the Hancock Horizon Funds have approved the transaction and related reorganizations, which are now subject to the approval by shareholders of the Hancock Horizon Funds. Completion of these transactions also is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary conditions. The Hancock Horizon shareholder meetings to approve the transitions are tentatively scheduled for September 2021, and the transactions are expected to be completed shortly thereafter.
