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Envestnet Makes Big Push Into UMA Market With $66 Million Acquisition
Envestnet, a provider of unified wealth management technology and services to investment advisors, is to acquire Placemark Holdings - which develops unified managed account programs and other portfolio management outsourcing solutions for banks, broker-dealers and RIA firms – for a cash sum of $66 million upon closing.
Envestnet, a provider of wealth management technology and services to investment advisors, is to acquire Placemark Holdings - which develops unified managed account programs and other portfolio management outsourcing solutions for banks, broker-dealers and RIA firms – for a cash sum of $66 million.
As a result of the deal, Placemark’s chief executive, Lee Chertavian, will join Envestnet as group president of Envestnet | Placemark, according to a statement.
Envestnet said it will initially operate Placemark’s web-based UMA platform technology in tandem with its own platform, with a full integration and consolidation expected in 2016.
UMAs are managed private investment accounts which are rebalanced regularly and can include investment vehicles such as mutual funds, stocks, bonds and exchange-traded funds in an investor's portfolio, in one account. Click here to view a feature on how UMAs have gained traction in the wealth management industry.
“This acquisition significantly expands Envestnet’s presence in the full-service broker-dealer channel, giving us added resources to serve a broad spectrum of wealth management needs, while delivering increased value to our shareholders,” said Jud Bergman, chairman and CEO of Envestnet.
Placemark has approximately $14 billion in UMA assets under management, as at end-March 2014; the acquisition would therefore make Envestnet number five on the list of top UMA providers in the industry with $24.7 billion in assets, the firm said, citing Cerulli rankings.
“Having access to Envestnet’s broad wealth management platform solutions should accelerate many of our strategic initiatives, addressing our customers’ existing and emerging wealth management needs,” said Chertavian.
The transaction is subject to closing conditions, including customer consents, and is expected to finalize during the second half of 2014.