October 12, 2012
MINNEAPOLIS, MN, October 12, 2012 – Foundry Partners LLC (“Foundry”) will launch in February 2013 with offices in Minneapolis and Cleveland in connection with its purchase of certain assets from Fifth Third Asset Management, Inc. (“FTAM”). Foundry will be majority-owned by its founding Principals, Tim Ford, Seamus Murphy and Amy Denn. Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC (“Rosemont”) will provide the equity capital and become the sole outside minority shareholder in Foundry.
Foundry Partners expects to launch with over $2 billion of advisory assets and will manage growth and value equity strategies for a client base that consists of primarily institutional, and sub-advised and modeled portfolios. Foundry will also establish a sub-advised investment relationship with Fifth Third Bank. The portfolio management and client service teams who support them are not expected to change, which assists with the orderly transition to Foundry of Fifth Third accounts. Foundry’s professionals will serve their clients from their current locations, including its headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. Transition of accounts to Foundry is subject to certain conditions, including potential client consent.
Tim Ford, with over 20 years of investment experience, will lead Foundry as its Chief Executive Officer. “All of the Principals are excited about the opportunity to create a majority employee-owned investment boutique. By partnering with Rosemont, Foundry will be supported by the most respected, value-added private equity partner to asset managers. This transaction provides a clear path to ownership for other leaders in the firm and preserves our operational independence, which is vital to serving our clients.” said Tim Ford, Managing Director of FTAM.
“Rosemont has gotten to know and respect FTAM management over the last five years. They have demonstrated great cohesion, professionalism and integrity during this process and we look forward to working with them over the coming years to grow Foundry and serve their clients’ needs,” said Genie Logue, Principal of Rosemont.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Foundry Partners LLC
Foundry will be a majority employee-owned boutique investment firm based in Minneapolis, MN. Foundry will manage growth and value equity strategies for a client base that consists of corporations, Taft-Hartley, foundations and endowments, and sub-advised and modeled portfolios.
About Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC
Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC is a private equity firm focused exclusively on making investments in asset managers. Rosemont was formed in May 2000 to provide capital to fund management buyouts, recapitalizations and selected start-ups in the asset management industry. In addition to providing capital, the principals of Rosemont assist management in growing their companies by leveraging their decades of experience in advising asset management businesses. Foundry is Rosemont’s first investment in Rosemont Partners III, L.P.
July 18, 2011
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA, July 18, 2011 – Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC (“Rosemont”) is pleased to announce that it has made an investment in Westmount Asset Management, LLC (“Westmount” or the “Company”). Westmount will remain majority owned by its founders, Robert Berliner and Jim Berliner, and Rosemont, a private equity boutique focused exclusively on making investments in asset management companies, will own a minority stake. Rosemont’s investment is being used to assist in an equity recapitalization, and to create opportunities to expand the firm’s ownership internally. As a result of the recapitalization, two long-term, valued employees of Westmount, Mike Amash and Chris Werner, will become partners.
Westmount was founded in Los Angeles, CA in 1990 by Robert Berliner and Jim Berliner. The firm provides sophisticated, institutional investment management services and related planning advice, delivered in a manner tailored to each client’s unique objectives. The Company currently manages approximately $1.4 billion on behalf of high net worth individuals, foundations, endowments and pension plans, and is among the oldest and largest independent investment advisors in Los Angeles. Westmount has frequently been recognized as one of the 100 leading wealth advisory firms in the United States. Westmount employs an open architecture platform with a well-developed and highly customized asset allocation process that employs best-of-breed outside managers to diversify its clients’ accounts across various asset classes, including fixed income, equities and alternative assets. The Company employs 20 people, 11 of whom comprise the in-house investment committee that reviews asset allocation and manager selection decisions. The Westmount team applies nearly 200 years of collective investment experience to its investment decision-making, and is supported by an accomplished staff that provides all the critical non-investment functions that are required to manage a successful investment management firm.
Jim Berliner, Westmount’s President and Chief Investment Officer, commented on the transaction: “Partnering with Rosemont gives us the opportunity to accomplish a number of important objectives, including providing a path to ownership for other leaders at the firm, and retains our investment and operational autonomy, which is so vital to serving our clients’ best interests. We are also delighted to have access to the considerable experience of the Rosemont team on the myriad of issues relating to practice management.” David Silvera, Managing Director of Rosemont, noted: “Westmount has a well-established reputation as a trusted advisor and counsel to its clients. Rosemont is thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the entire Westmount team as they continue to build on that foundation by serving their clients’ needs, reinvesting in the people and resources that will allow the business to grow in a thoughtful and client-focused manner.”
The transaction is expected to close in August 2011. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Westmount Asset Management
Westmount Asset Management, Inc. (now Westmount Asset Management, LLC) is an independent, fee-only, investment advisory firm that was founded in Los Angeles by Robert Berliner and Jim Berliner in 1990 to serve high net worth individuals, families, foundations, endowments and pension plans. Westmount serves as fiduciary to its clients and creates customized investment plans by employing sophisticated, institutional money management strategies across a broad range of asset classes. Investment strategies are implemented using Westmount’s open architecture platform and applied in conjunction with the Company’s consulting and planning services. For more information, please visit http://www.westmount.com.
About Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC
Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC is a private equity firm focused exclusively on making investments in asset managers. Rosemont was formed in May 2000 to provide capital to fund management buyouts, recapitalizations and selected start-ups in the asset management industry. In addition to providing capital, the principals of Rosemont assist management in growing their companies by leveraging their decades of experience in advising asset management businesses.
April 4, 2011
DURHAM, NC, April 4, 2011 – Piedmont Investment Advisors, LLC (“Piedmont”), a DurhamIbased asset management firm with approximately 3.5 billion in assets under management, announced today that Rosemont Partners II, L.P. (“Rosemont”), a private equity fund of Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC, will acquire a minority interest in Piedmont. Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC is a private equity firm focused on providing capital and expertise to the investment management industry. The transaction is expected to close later this month. As a result of the transaction, the management team at Piedmont will own a majority stake of 70 percent of the company and Rosemont will own 30 percent. Terms were not announced.
Rosemont’s investment will not result in a change of control and there will be no changes to the management structure, investment philosophy, investment team, operating procedures, or client service functions at Piedmont. Rosemont will receive one board seat. Isaac Green, President and CEO of Piedmont, said, “Rosemont will be a strong equity partner for Piedmont. We are excited that they will be joining our team. Their investment philosophy recognizes that the longIterm value of their investments will be driven by partnering with management teams that control their destiny. This is very much in alignment with Piedmont’s view.”
The founding principals of Rosemont have over 20 years of experience in advising and acquiring asset management firms. Rosemont has a successful track record of acquiring Piedmont Investment Advisors/Page 2minority stakes alongside management teams that are motivated to grow the value of their own equity. This is Rosemont’s 21st investment.
About Piedmont Investment Advisors, LLC
Founded in 2000, Piedmont Investment Advisors, LLC is a majority employeeIowned investment management firm with approximately 3.5 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2011. Piedmont provides a full range of equity and fixed income investment products to institutional public pension plans, corporations, foundations, endowments and other institutional investors. Piedmont is based in Durham, North Carolina. More information about the firm can be found at www.piedmontinvestment.com.
About Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC
Founded in 2000, Rosemont Investment Partners is a private equity firm providing capital to fund management buyouts, recapitalizations and selected startIups in the asset management industry. In addition to providing capital, the principals of Rosemont assist management in growing their companies by leveraging their decades of experience in advising and nurturing asset management businesses.
August 24, 2010
MEMPHIS, TN, August 24, 2010 – SouthernSun Asset Management, a research-driven investment management firm implementing Small Cap, SMID Cap, and Global Equity investment strategies, today announced that it has acquired the interests of several outside shareholders to become majority employee-owned. Rosemont Investment Partners, a private equity boutique focused exclusively on making investments in asset management companies, provided capital for the transaction.
“This transaction allowed us to accomplish two goals: achieving majority employee-ownership and providing equity to a broader group of key SouthernSun employees,” said Michael W. Cook, founder, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of SouthernSun. “Maintaining independence and motivating our employees through equity participation strengthens the alignment between the firm and our clients.”
In exchange for providing capital for the transaction, Rosemont has acquired a limited-term minority interest in SouthernSun.
Genie Logue, Vice President of Rosemont, added: “We are excited to partner with this accomplished group of professionals at SouthernSun. We’ve come to know and respect the investment process and discipline of the team over the years and we look forward to working with them as they continue to grow the Company and serve their clients’ needs.”
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Based in Memphis, TN, SouthernSun Asset Management manages over $1.3 billion in assets across a diverse group of institutional and high net worth clients. The firm specializes in managing U.S. Small Cap, U.S. Small/Mid Cap, and Global Equity strategies, using a concentrated, absolute return, fundamentally-based approach to portfolio management. Led by founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer Michael Cook, the team’s on-the-ground, research-intensive investment process seeks to identify a small number of attractively valued companies with three primary characteristics: niche dominance, financial flexibility, and management adaptability. This same investment philosophy and process has been in place since Michael Cook founded the firm in 1989.
On a total return, net of fee basis through June 30, 2010, SouthernSun’s Small and Small/Mid Cap Equity strategies have outperformed the Russell 2000 and Russell 2500 respectively for 1, 3, 5, and 10 year annualized periods, and remain positive for 5 and 10 years compounded. Additionally, SouthernSun is ranked in the top 5% for all U.S. Small/Mid Cap Core equity managers over 10 years by the eVestment Alliance database. The firm is also ranked in the top 10% for all U.S. Small Cap Core equity managers over 10 years by eVestment. Peer universe rankings are cited on a gross of fee basis and past performance is no guarantee of future results.
About Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC
Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC is a private equity firm focused exclusively on making investments in asset managers. Rosemont was formed in May 2000 to provide capital to fund management buyouts, recapitalizations and selected start-ups in the asset management industry. In addition to providing capital, the principals of Rosemont assist management in growing their companies by leveraging their decades of experience in advising asset management businesses.
About SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC
SouthernSun Asset Management, LLC is a boutique investment firm that provides investment management services to public and private pension plan sponsors, corporations, foundations and endowments, and high net worth investors. The Company was founded in 1989 by Michael Cook, who continues to serve as the firm’s CEO and Chief Investment Officer for all publicly traded investment strategies. SouthernSun’s investment products are managed as separate accounts and in a mutual fund. For more information, please visit http://www.southernsunam.com and http://www.southernsunfunds.com.
February 10, 2010
ATLANTA, GA, February 10, 2010 – Balentine, an independently owned firm of senior-level investment professionals, is open for business and moving quickly to establish a formidable presence in Atlanta and beyond. The firm is focused on acting with uncommon agility and collaboration to help individuals, families and not-for-profit organizations successfully navigate today’s complex investment environment.
Balentine, which opened its doors in January 2010, currently has more than $250 million under management and expects to oversee $1 billion by the end of the summer. The firm builds upon the successful Balentine legacy, an employee-owned firm established over 25 years ago with a proven record of success and operations founded on partners investing their capital alongside clients.
The firm’s business model combines the transparency and objectivity of an investment counseling firm with the ability to act decisively and be held accountable for the results of a money manager. As an asset strategy firm, Balentine will not offer any proprietary products and is not affiliated with any broker dealers. Client and partner assets will be held at Pershing, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, a AAA-rated company. Alignment with clients and lack of financial conflict are key cornerstones of Balentine’s overall management philosophy.
Robert M. Balentine, chairman of Balentine, believes the time is right for the firm he and his partners have entrepreneurially established.
“With our firm, we are returning to the traditional days of locals working with locals, being intrinsically involved in the community, and understanding the lifestyle and values of the clients we serve and the long-term goals of families in the region,” Balentine said. “There are not one-size-fits-all investment solutions in our business. Each client’s needs and goals should drive the investment process every time.”
Balentine is backed by Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC, a well-known private equity investor in asset management companies. Rosemont’s founder, Chas Burkhart, remarked, “We are very enthusiastic about our partnership with such a top-notch team of investment advisory professionals. Balentine comes out of the gate as a well-organized, employee-owned firm with a best practices approach to asset allocation, investment management and client service.”
“We are very pleased to have Rosemont as our partner,” said Balentine. “The Rosemont team includes the most knowledgeable and connected investors in our industry, and we look forward to a very productive relationship.”
Balentine has assembled a team of seasoned professionals, many of whom have worked together for more than a decade. With 17 staff members, including two Ph.D.s, four MBAs and six CFAs, each Balentine team member has served in the most senior positions, such as chief investment officer and chief financial strategist. In creating the team, Balentine noted the firm specifically sought senior advisers with direct experience managing large pools of capital and providing thought leadership in the industry.
“We have assembled an extraordinary group of talent and intellectual capital,” said Balentine. “Our team combines seasoned, senior-level investment industry veterans with economists from some of the world’s most prestigious universities and thinkers from business sectors outside of the world of financial services. Our team is immersed in the community, highly respected, extremely dedicated and of the highest integrity.”
The senior Balentine team members include:
Robert M. Balentine, Chairman and CEO
Robert most recently served as executive vice president of Wilmington Trust Company and chairman and chief executive officer of Wilmington Trust Investment Management. Prior to that role, he was chairman and chief executive officer of Balentine & Company, the Atlanta-based investment counseling firm he co-founded in 1987, which was acquired by Wilmington Trust in 2002. Robert is a former executive of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith where, at the age of 28, he was elected the youngest vice president in the firm’s history.
Robert has held a variety of leadership positions in his community, having served as chairman of the board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, vice chairman of the executive committee of the Woodruff Arts Center, and chairman of the Salvation Army and Atlanta Boys & Girls Clubs. He is a graduate of Washington & Lee University and serves as a member of its board of trustees.
Jeff Adams, J.D., Chief Operating Officer
Jeff previously served as president and director of Wilmington Trust – Georgia, where he headed the Wealth Advisory / Federal Savings Bank Office. Previously, Jeff was executive vice president and chief operating officer of Balentine & Company from 1995 until the firm’s sale in 2002. He also served as chair of the NASD District Committee 7 in 2004. Jeff began his career as an attorney with Alston & Bird, representing public companies and managing issuer and underwriter financing and regulatory practices. In 1982, he was named a partner in that firm.
Jeff serves in many leadership positions throughout the community. He is a trustee of Young Harris College and chair of the marketing committee. He also is a trustee of The Culver Academies, acting as chair of the finance and investment committee. Jeff serves as chair of the Care and Counseling Center of Georgia. Jeff was a Morehead Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1973. He later earned a law degree from Yale Law School.
Adrian Cronje, Ph.D., CFA, Chief Investment Officer
Adrian directs all of Balentine’s strategic asset class diversification, tactical rebalancing and manager selection and termination policies. He also oversees risk management techniques at a strategy level and identifies and prioritizes investment research. Previously, Adrian was chief investment strategist and chair of the Investment Strategy Team at Wilmington Trust Company. Prior to that role, he served as director and deputy head of Quantitative Equity Products at Schroders in London, where his team managed more than $3 billion across global equity markets.
Adrian holds a doctorate in macroeconomics and econometrics and a master’s degree in economics and finance from the University of Cambridge, U.K. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics, with honors, from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is a frequent presenter at high-profile events such as annual CFA conferences, Barron’s “The Art of Successful Investing” conference, the Georgia Tech MBA program, and the Southeastern Council of Foundations, among others.
Brittain E. Prigge, CFA, Managing Director of Client Relationships
Brittain joined Balentine & Company in 1994 and was a shareholder in the firm at the time of the firm’s acquisition by Wilmington Trust in 2002. She is considered Balentine’s expert in fixed- income trading and portfolio management.
Brittain is an active fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, where she acts as a national associate and has worked with the board of trustees since 1998. She also is a board member and chair of the Resource Development committee for Families First, Georgia’s largest not-for-profit family agency providing holistic services to children and families in jeopardy. In addition, she is a member of the Peachtree Alliance board, serving as secretary and E Rivers Elementary school liaison. Brittain holds a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.
Philip Cave, Managing Director of Business Development
Philip most recently served as president of Wilmington Trust FSB Georgia, where he led business development and client account management for the company’s wealth advisory business in Atlanta and the Southeast region. Prior to that role, Philip headed the Bessemer Trust office in Atlanta. Earlier in his career, he held senior private banking positions with JP Morgan and Wachovia.
Philip also holds leadership positions in Atlanta’s civic community. He served as chair of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s Annual Fund for three years and is currently chair of the board governance committee. He previously served on the Woodruff Arts Center Long Range Committee and on the advisory board of the Cox Family Enterprise Center. Philip holds a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University.
Alan McKnight, Jr., CFA, Chief Investment Strategist
Alan is Balentine’s Chief Investment Strategist, managing Balentine’s asset allocation strategies and supervising the firm’s manager due diligence and selection efforts. He also works individually with endowment and foundation clients. Alan is the former chief investment officer of SunTrust Institutional Investment Advisors, LLC, where he was responsible for managing over $20 billion for foundations and endowments. Prior to joining SunTrust, Alan was portfolio manager for large-cap growth portfolios at Morgan Stanley. Previously, he worked for Equitable Asset Management as the portfolio manager of a small-cap value fund. He began his career with Wachovia Securities as a sell-side analyst covering the specialty retailing sector.
Alan earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington and Lee University in 1994, and a master’s in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin in 2002. He holds the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA®) designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the New York Society of Security Analysts. Alan serves on the board of the Alliance Theatre.
Joe M. Stallings, Managing Director of Communications
As Balentine’s communications director, Joe Stallings manages the firm’s external communications, public relations efforts, brand equity and intellectual properties. A 1992 graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Joe began his career with Balentine & Company in 1994,rising to Vice President of Marketing in 1999.
Joe joins Balentine from Electronic Arts, the world’s second-largest software entertainment company, where he worked as a producer. Working in both Orlando, Florida and Vancouver, British Columbia, Joe helped create the ecommerce, social media, digital distribution and
direct-to-consumer technologies used in some of Electronic Arts’ best-selling products, including The Sims and Tiger Woods PGA(r) TOUR.
January 2, 2009
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA, January 2, 2009 – Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC (“Rosemont”) is pleased to announce that it has completed an investment in Lateef Investment Management, LP (“Lateef” or the “Company”). Lateef’s management team will continue to own a significant majority stake in the Company and Rosemont, a private equity boutique focused exclusively on making investments in asset management companies will own a minority stake. Rosemont’s investment is being used primarily to recapitalize a minority interest and to provide a mechanism for future equity transfers. Rosemont’s investment is not a change of control, and there are no changes to the team or management structure at Lateef.
Lateef manages approximately $2.9 billion primarily in an All-Cap Growth equity product through separate accounts and the Lateef Fund (LIMAX) for a client base that consists of corporations, foundations and endowments, family offices and high net worth individuals. The Company’s investment process seeks to achieve absolute returns and preserve capital while outperforming the S&P 500 index. Through year-end 2008, the Company’s All-Cap Growth product had outperformed the S&P 500 for 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 year periods, and remained positive for 5, 10 and 15 years compounded. Lateef is ranked in the top 1% for all US domestic equity managers over 10 years by the PSN database1.
Lateef was founded in 1974 in the San Francisco Bay area and has employed a research-intensive, multi-cap, growth-at-a-reasonable-price investment process that results in a highly concentrated (15-20 stocks) portfolio. The team’s investment process identifies companies with superior growth characteristics based on 25 business, management and valuation criteria. Lateef’s four person investment team is supported by an eighteen person team of professionals and staff involved with client service, marketing, operations and compliance. Eight of Lateef’s twenty-two employees are shareholders following this transaction.
Ryan Willson, Lateef’s Chief Executive Officer, commented that: “The Lateef team that is currently in place has succeeded at managing portfolios and growing client relationships for many years. This recapitalization provides a mechanism for us to continue to motivate and align our employees’ interests with those of our clients for the foreseeable future”. David Silvera, Managing Director of Rosemont, added: “We are excited to partner with the accomplished group of professionals at Lateef. We’ve come to know and respect the investment process and discipline of the team over the years and we look forward to working with them as they continue to grow the company and serve their clients’ needs”.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
About Lateef Investment Management, LP
Lateef Investment Management, LP is a boutique investment firm that provides investment management services to public and private pension plan sponsors, corporations, foundations and endowments, family offices and high net worth investors. The Company was founded by Khateeb Lateef in 1974 and has employed a consistent growth-at-at-reasonable price investment process for over 30 years. Lateef’s investment products are managed as separate accounts and in a mutual fund. For more information, please visit http://www.lateef.com.
About Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC
Rosemont Investment Partners, LLC is a private equity firm focused exclusively on making investments in asset managers. Rosemont was formed in May 2000 to provide capital to fund management buyouts, recapitalizations and selected start-ups in the asset management industry. In addition to providing capital, the principals of Rosemont assist management in growing their companies by leveraging their decades of experience in advising asset management businesses.
1 PSN (Plan Sponsor Network) and Informa Investment Solutions has approximately 2,000 investment managers participating in the PSN database, which covers more than 10,000 investment products. Managers range in size and capabilities, but all are interested in sharing their data in an effort to increase their exposure to investment decision-makers.
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