Q&A With Northern Lights Ventures On Small Market Asset Management Plays
Since the financial collapse, buyout firms have been actively interested, strategically or for their portfolios, in large pieces of "too big to fail banks," and other orphan asset management units. In addition to the sales of asset management units from Bank of America, Lehman Brothers, AIG and Barclays, industry experts predict a wave of consolidation for asset management that trickles down to the middle market and small market. In recent months deals like Macquarie's $428 million acquisition of Delaware Investments, Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial's $326.1 million acquisition of Lincoln National Corp further solidify that claim. In August, Guggenheim Partners acquired Claymore Group, a provider of ETFs, closed-end funds and unit investment trusts. I spoke with Paul Greenwood of Northern Lights Ventures to learn more about deal activity at the lower end of the market. Based in Seattle, Northern Lights Ventures makes minority stakes in asset management firms from an evergreen fund.
