A midwestern mutual fund firm may be moving back to its original home state after leaving almost three decades ago.

Philip James Sanders Waddell & Reed, Inc. CEO, Chief Investment Officer

Last week, Phil Sanders, CEO and chief investment officer of Waddell & Reed Financial (parent of Ivy Funds [profile]), confirmed that his team is now looking at multiple possible sites for a new headquarters for the publicly traded firm. Waddell & Reed is currently based in Overland Park, Kansas, near Kansas City, Missouri, and a company statement confirms that Sanders is specifically looking at sites on the Missouri side of the metro area.

The Kansas City Business Journal notes that Waddell & Reed started in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1937, then moved to Overland Park, Kansas, in 1990. According to the paper, the company now has about 1,000 employees in the area, spread across a six-building campus. The Journal also notes that elected officials in Kansas and Missouri are working on legislation that would end the "incentives border war" between the two states, legislation signed yesterday by the Missouri governor but not yet passed by the Kansas legislature.

As for Waddell & Reed, Sanders insists that site evaluations are still ongoing and that "no specific location has been selected," so it's unclear when such a move back to Missouri would take place.

"We have a responsibility to a variety of constituents, including employees, clients, advisors and shareholders, to take the necessary steps to enable the long-term success of our company," Sanders states. "We are committed to keeping our employees and the community informed as the process continues to unfold in the coming months." 

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