Charles Schwab [profile] reported today that is agreed to acquire ThomasPartners, which includes an upfront payment of $85 million in cash and the opportunity for additional payments contingent on future growth in assets under management (AUM).

The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, according to a company press release.

Schwab, which in the past has served mostly as a supermarket for other fund firms, has acted decidedly un-supermarket-like.

In July, Schwab former ETF SVP David Botset to handle its ETF portfolio strategy.

In September, Schwab joined the escalating ETF fee war by filing to cut management fees on seven ETFs by as much as 10 basis points.

An MFWIre analysis indicated that this move would cost many pretty pennies for the likes of Larry Fink, Bill McNabb and Jay Hooley.

---

Company Press Release

Schwab Announces Agreement to Acquire Thomas Partners

"We believe the stars are aligned for a growing demand for the kind of money management approach we deliver, and Schwab’s large national footprint, wonderful reputation and growing client base will enable us to reach a vastly larger potential pool of investors."

SAN FRANCISCO--The Charles Schwab Corporation today announced an agreement to acquire ThomasPartners, Inc., which includes an upfront payment of $85 million in cash and the opportunity for additional payments contingent on future growth in assets under management (AUM). The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.

Headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts, ThomasPartners is a dividend income-focused asset management firm with $2.3 billion in AUM as of September 30, 2012, in largely growth-oriented investment portfolios designed to generate dividend income streams. ThomasPartners has consistently outperformed relevant benchmarks over the nine-year history of its dividend product.

At current AUM levels, Schwab anticipates that the acquisition will be neutral to EPS for the first 12 months post-closing, and become modestly accretive within the next 12 months. Given demographic trends that are fueling growing demand for income-oriented investment strategies, Schwab intends to further leverage ThomasPartners’ strong track record of growth and performance over time.

Post-closing plans include: • The CEO and chairman of ThomasPartners, Gregory Thomas, and his investment team led by president, chief operating officer and chief investment officer William McMahon, will remain with the firm in order to maintain and oversee the investment and portfolio management processes in place today. • Its money management solutions will be made available at a lower cost to clients of independent Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) through the Schwab Advisor Services platform. At closing Schwab will waive transaction commission costs for ThomasPartners’ managed accounts custodied on Schwab’s Advisor Services platform. • ThomasPartners’ portfolios will be offered to Schwab retail clients as part of its growing selection of advisory solutions which include Schwab Advisor Network, Windhaven Portfolios, Schwab Managed Portfolios, Schwab Private Client, and access to third party portfolio management. Assets in advised accounts at Schwab have grown steadily over the years and today stand at $124 billion. After closing, ThomasPartners will no longer directly market to individual investors.

“There is a growing interest among investors and investment advisors in the growth-oriented dividend income approach that is ThomasPartners’ core focus and expertise,” said Walt Bettinger, Schwab president and chief executive officer. “With more than four million baby boomers entering retirement age each year in the United States, and tens of millions approaching that milestone over the coming decade, a rapidly growing segment of investors and investment advisors are focusing on producing income within their investment portfolios. ThomasPartners’ dividend strategy complements Schwab’s existing asset management line-up and helps provide our clients with a more complete range of money management solutions to serve them along their investing journey.”

According to Cerulli1, assets in separately managed account programs grew at a compound annual growth rate of 12.0% from 1999 to 2011 versus 4.6% for long-term securities. They are expected to grow at a CAGR of 14% from 2011 to 2015.

“We have worked together with Schwab since 2001, with more than half our assets currently custodied on Schwab’s Advisor Services platform, and we are excited to be joining such a great company,” said Gregory Thomas, chairman and CEO of ThomasPartners. “We believe the stars are aligned for a growing demand for the kind of money management approach we deliver, and Schwab’s large national footprint, wonderful reputation and growing client base will enable us to reach a vastly larger potential pool of investors.”

 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE