Aberdeen acquires CEF assets for £1.5bn

Written by Dan McGrath

12/12/2025

Aberdeen Investments has agreed to acquire the management of closed end fund (CEF) assets from MFS for £1.5bn.

The deal is the investment firm’s tenth US CEF acquisition since 2000.

Through a series of mergers and reorganisations, nine MFS funds, in addition to one existing Aberdeen CEF, will be consolidated resulting in two active CEFs.

The funds will be managed by Aberdeen’s head of fixed income, Johnathan Mondillo, and mark the firm’s first foray in the US into this part of the market.

Aberdeen, which currently manages £21.4bn in CEFs, said that both combined funds will create a "springboard for potential future growth", with four MFS municipal bond CEFs and one Aberdeen municipal bond CEF being consolidated to create a $1bn assets under management (AuM) municipal bond fund.

Furthermore, five MFS taxable fixed income funds will be merged to create a $1.4bn AuM multi-sector fixed income CEF.

Head of CEFs and managing director for corporate finance at Aberdeen Investments, Christian Pittard, said: "This is an exciting opportunity to bring our institutional skills and leadership in fixed income and private credit to US retail investors through a liquid, closed end fund structure.

"The enlarged funds will come with real scale and will focus on areas of deep expertise for Aberdeen where we see clear potential for further growth. MFS pioneered US mutual funds back in 1924, and we are proud they have chosen Aberdeen for this agreement."

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