Fifty-one asset management deals were announced globally in the first four months of 2013, up an annualized 12% from 2012, according to a report Tuesday from financial services consultant Freeman & Co.
The deals from Jan. 1 to April 30 saw $792 billion in assets under management transferred, which if that pace continues, would project to $2.4 trillion for all of this year. That would compare with $1.4 trillion in 2012 and $1.3 trillion in 2011, said Eric Weber, managing director and chief operating officer at Freeman.
The number of deals is at a pace to total 153 this year, which would be the second straight for double-digit percentage increases in money manager M&A activity. The 2013 projection is up 11.7% from 2012, when 137 transactions were reported. That was a 22% increase from 2011.
The report spotlighted expected above-average growth this year among money managers with solutions- and outcomes-based approaches and in alternatives asset classes in the retail industry, Mr. Weber said.
