LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Activist investor Trian Fund Management has spent about $900m (£695m) to buy large stakes in Invesco and Janus Henderson to push for mergers in the asset management industry, according to a report.

Trian, co-founded by renowned activist Nelson Peltz, has bought 9.9% each of Invesco and Janus Henderson, the Wall Street Journal reported. The money comes from a previously unreported fund built by Trian to consolidate the asset management industry.

Invesco has the potential to buy rivals such as Janus Henderson to weather falling fees and shrinking margins for asset managers and form a rival to large operators such as BlackRock, Trian believes, according to the Journal. In talks between Trian and Invesco's leadership the fund said it wanted Peltz and co-founder Ed Garden to join Invesco's board.

Invesco told the Journal it welcomed high quality investors. "We value shareholder input and regularly engage with our major shareholders in a constructive dialogue," it said. Janus said Trian informed it about the investment on Thursday.

Shares of Invesco and Janus Henderson have suffered as active asset managers have come under pressure from lower-cost rivals such as Vanguard that operate cheaper index funds and exchange traded funds. Invesco has a market value of about $5.2bn and Janus Henderson is valued at about $4bn.

Invesco is active in the UK and is headquartered in the US where its shares are listed. Janus Henderson has its head office in London and its shares are listed in the US and Australia.

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