Rothschild’s asset management business has been sold to HBOS’s fund management arm, Insight Investment Management, for £61m (e95.8m).
Rothschild Asset Management’s retail and institutional asset management businesses in the UK and Guernsey will be integrated into Insight as soon as regulatory approval by the Financial Services Authority is granted, confirmed a spokesman for Rothschild.
The Japanese and Singapore businesses of RAM, which manage around £1bn in retail and institutional funds will remain part of the Rothschild group. The private client business of RAM will also remain with Rothschild, and be amalgamated into the worldwide private banking business, headed up by Mike Bussey.
Rothschild announced in September that it would be selling the retail and institutional asset management units to concentrate on private banking and wealth management. It was believed that the sale would fetch up to £100m pounds, although Rothschild says that a figure was never publicly discussed, and that predictions in the press were only analysts’ opinions.
RAM manages close to £11bn of funds in total, bringing Insight’s funds under management to £68bn.
It is hoped that the transaction will enhance Insight’s position in the areas of multi-management and fixed income. RAM’s retail fund of funds/ multi-manager business has £700m in assets under management.