M&G’s long history of innovation began in 1931 when it launched the first unit trust in Britain, the First British Fixed Trust. The idea was brought to Britain by a stockbroker impressed by the way that American mutual funds had withstood the shock of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. The new fund invested in the shares of 24 leading companies and later became the M&G Blue Chip Fund. In 2006 this fund was merged into the M&G UK Growth Fund.
Expansion
Since the launch of the first unit trust, M&G's development has continued to include an impressive array of UK 'firsts', including the M&G Thrift Plan in 1954, the M&G Personal Pension Plan in 1968 and the M&G Japan and General Fund (a pioneer of overseas unit trusts) in 1971.
The M&G Group
M&G continued to expand after its acquisition by Prudential in 1999. It now runs operations in Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and Italy.
Prudential Portfolio Managers (PPM), Prudential's institutional fund management arm, integrated with M&G in 2001 to create a single investment brand. The PPM brand continues in South Africa, while PPM Ventures is a leading source of private equity finance with offices in London, Paris, Munich and Sydney.
Prudential Property Investment Managers (PruPIM), part of the M&G Group, is one of the largest institutional property investors in the UK, with growing investment in the international property market. Domestically, it manages over 1,000 investment properties within 14 portfolios.
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