Waddell & Reed Financial is buying Advantus Capital Management’s actively managed equity and certain other assets from its parent, Securian Financial, for about $26 million in what the companies termed a strategic alliance. The 11 retail mutual funds in the $525 million Advantus family will be merged into similar funds in Waddell & Reed’s Ivy family. Waddell & Reed will also merge eight active Advantus Series equity funds into the W&R Target family; the eight funds total $1.2 billion and will continue to underlie Securian’s annuity and other insurance products.
In addition, Waddell & Reed will manage about $200 million in active equities within the general accounts of Securian and its subsidiary, Minnesota Life Insurance, and will manage $150 million in separate accounts for retirement plans within the Ivy Funds.
Securian made the move to leverage distribution, said Mark Hier, second vice president. Waddell & Reed’s distribution network is about three times larger than Securian’s, Mr. Hier said.
