ING fund loses half its assets

The joint venture fund run by Dutch banking group ING lost more than half its assets in the fourth quarter of 2005, as the country’s fund management industry as a whole dropped 1.2%, its first decline in five years, the Financial Times reported. The ING-China Merchants Securities fund, the country’s third largest investing in short-dated bonds, saw a 56% drop in value from US$3 billion to US$1.4 billion. The news comes after UK fund manager Schroders saw its joint venture equity fund with Bank of Communications lose nearly half its assets.