EVEREN Capital will take a 20% stake in Mentor Investment Group, the asset management unit of Wheat First Butcher Singer, under an agreement signed today.
Under terms of the agreement, EVEREN could transfer almost $3 billion of its client money market fund balances to Mentor and offer its clients Mentor's mutual funds and separate account services. In turn, Mentor will issue EVEREN a 20% ownership in the Mentor Investment Group, which can be increased to 50% over the next two years.
In the past four years, Mentor's assets have grown from $500 million to $5.8 billion in retail and institutional mutual funds and separate accounts.
After the transfer of EVEREN's money market balances, Mentor will run almost $9 billion on behalf of 750,000 clients and mutual fund shareholders.
