Russell Investments, the Seattle-based asset manager, is on the auction block per the Financial Times.
Why it matters: The interest to sell "follows several bruising years for the [fund management] industry, with profits at some of the biggest fund houses squeezed by the rise of passive investing."
- It's unclear how much Russell Investment's owner, private equity firm TA Associates, is seeking for the asset manager, the FT notes.
- Russell Investments was last valued at $1.15 billion when TA Associates bought it in 2016.
The big picture: Fund management has seen a surge of M&A activity in the last few years.
- "Merging with another firm to gain assets, lift out a star investment team, or buy a specialized manager has long been touted as one way for asset managers to survive falling fees and margins and compensate for a lack of organic growth," as Institutional Investor's Julie Segal noted.
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