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.