Ameriprise Financial, CI Financial as well as private equity firms GTCR and Reverence Capital Partners are reportedly contemplating second-round bids for Wells Fargo’s asset management business.
Neither of the companies confirmed the development.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
Wells Fargo is likely to cut the number of suitors to one or two following the next round based on the offers made, reported Bloomberg citing people familiar with the issue.
The offers are expected later this month, though no final decision has been taken, stated the report.
The news of Wells Fargo looking to offload its asset management arm was first reported in October this year.
The report said that a potential sale could bring more than $3bn to the San Francisco-based lender.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe asset management business oversaw $578bn as of the end of June this year.
The move is part of CEO Charles Scharf’s turnaround initiative, which has been involved in a fake account-creation scandal where employees used fraud to create millions of accounts in customers’ names without their consent to meet sales goals.
The group is now divesting various units to streamline the business.
It is reportedly in discussions with a group comprising Apollo Management and the Blackstone Group to sell its student loan portfolio and is also divesting its corporate trust unit and a private label credit cards business.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Ameriprise manages over $900bn in assets. Reverence and GTCR are based in New York and Chicago, respectively.
CI, which is headquartered in Toronto, is recently looking to ramp up its presence in the US RIA space. The firm has already taken stakes in US RIAs Cabana Asset Management, Surevest Wealth Management, Congress Wealth Management, and Balasa Dinverno Foltz (BDF).
Recently, various other firms too are eyeing options for their asset management businesses.
Societe Generale has reportedly decided to sell its asset management unit Lyxor, and Amundi and BNP Paribas are among the group of bidders planning to buy the business.
Bank of Montreal (BMO) too is reportedly considering options for its asset management business, including a partial sale.
Also recently, Bloomberg reported that State Street is reviewing various options for its asset management arm, including a merger with UBS and Invesco.
