UK – The 22 pension funds that have been suing Henderson Global Investors for the last two years over an ill-fated infrastructure fund have agreed to withdraw their claim in return for payment by Henderson of their legal costs to date.
 
In a statement released today, Henderson Group and the claimants announced that both sides had reached "a resolution of the matters in dispute between them".
 
Under the terms of the agreement, the Henderson Group parties to the proceedings, without any admission of liability, said they would pay the costs of the proceedings and that, in return, the proceedings would be withdrawn.
 
It is believed that the pension funds decided to settle following a preliminary hearing in November 2012, in which the pension funds lost the right to bring a derivative claims against Henderson.  

As a result of this, a number of the pension funds that were party to the claim withdrew their support for ongoing litigation.
 
The pension funds had been seeking substantial compensation for breach of mandate and misrepresentation.

Solicitors for the pension funds, Ashurst, declined to comment, as did Clifford Chance, which acted for Henderson.
 
The case, if it had gone to a full hearing, had been expected to shine a light on the duties of investment managers in regard to complex alternative investments, such as the Henderson PFI Secondary Fund II, which had been at the heart of the dispute.