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Mergers & Acquisitions Section

News

Fund Mergers, M&As Likely to Rise

While having $50 million under assets used to the minimum standard, it’s now more like $500 million.

Barclays Sale to BlackRock Puts Pressure on State Street, Vanguard ETFs

With half of the industry’s market share, Barclays’ iShares business would likely expand.

BlackRock Lead Bidder for Barclays Fund Unit

Barclays said to be seeing more than $12 billion for Barclays Global.

Federated Acquires Two Touchstone Funds

The acquisition expands Federated’s assets under management by $233 million.

Broadridge Acquires Access Data

The investor communications and securities processing and clearing firm was motivated to expand its offerings.

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Articles

Mercer to Acquire Callan For Undisclosed Sum

Benefits consulting firms Mercer and Callan Associates are creating a mega investment consulting shop, as the two have announced plans to merge their operations. Mercer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Cos. based in New York and with 18,000 employees, will acquire Callan, which employs 170, in an effort to strengthen its U.S. presence in the investment consulting space, as well as its position on a global scale. Callan is independently owned. The transaction is expected to close within the first quarter of this year, and the new firm will be known as Mercer, officials at both shops told IMW.

NewRiver Sues Morningstar for Espionage

Mutual fund prospectus provider NewRiver is suing Morningstar for using Internet espionage to steal information from its patent-protected system. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 30 in Massachusetts commonwealth court, alleges Morningstar gained unauthorized access to NewRiver's web data warehouse last summer when the two companies were in talks to form a strategic partnership. The partnership did not pan out. NewRiver said it is seeking 'substantial damages.'

SourceMedia Editors Give Predictions for 2009

The events that occurred in the financial services industry over the past year were once thought inconceivable. At this point, regulators are chomping at the bit to reverse how Wall Street does business, and investors are downright spooked. The editors of SourceMedia's business publications offer their views on how these dramatic shifts on Wall Street and in corporate America will impact businesses and investors this year.

Putnam Investments Restructures Equity Unit

Stressing that the reorganization is not motivated by the financial crisis but a strong desire to improve accountability and, with that, performance, Putnam Investments Chief Executive Officer Robert Reynolds announced the firm is doing away with team-managed equity mutual funds. Instead, those funds will be run by single portfolio managers. In the process, 12 fund managers were let go last week, along with 17 quantitative research people and 18 others, for a total of 47 people dismissed.

Distributors Brace For Tough 2009

The financial turmoil in the markets is far from over, and mutual fund firms can expect assets to continue to decline further, investors to remain skittish, and regulators to be reactive well into 2009, experts say. 'From a distribution standpoint, a lot of changes are expected in 2009,' said Peter Delano, research area director for the research and advisory services firm TowerGroup during a webinar last week titled 'Preparing for 2009 and Beyond: Expected Fallout on the Mutual Fund Industry.'

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