New England Investment Cos. agreed to acquire Snyder Capital Management Inc., making Snyder the 14th money management unit of the holding company. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Snyder, which manages $1 billion in small- and midcap equities, will operate as an independent unit. Its key executives, including Alan B. Snyder, president, signed long-term contracts with New England to continue at Snyder.
BARRA Inc. agreed to buy 100% of Global Advanced Technology Corp., a fixed-income research and technology firm, in a deal valued around $16.4 million. BARRA will pay $3.2 million in cash and some 470,000 shares of BARRA stock, which traded recently at $28 a share.
GAT's presence in the insurance and banking markets will complement BARRA's institutional business. Thomas S.Y. Ho, GAT's president, will become a BARRA executive vice president. Mark Wainger, GAT vice president and head of software development, will become technical director of fixed-income products. The purchase will give BARRA a fixed-income line that with its equity and asset allocation strategies will provide ``a one-stop shop for portfolio analytics.''
The Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System, Little Rock, is considering taking assets from domestic fixed-income manager Loomis Sayles and is looking at high-yield bonds and timberland.
Loomis manages $600 million or about 50% of the $1.1 billion fixed-income portfolio. Performance ``has been so-so,'' said Kie D. Hall, executive director of the almost $3 billion fund. The finance committee is expected to make its recommendation shortly; the board will make a final decision in August.
A review of the equity portfolio is also scheduled in the next couple of weeks. The annual review is expected to be finished in November. Callan is assisting.
