Hiring activity increased 3.1% from the previous quarter to $48.06 billion. The number of hires increased 20.4% for the quarter and decreased slightly 0.1% from the same period a year ago. Neuberger Berman won six mandates, totaling $2.1 billion, which included a hire by Florida Prepaid College Board for its $2 billion liability-driven investment strategies. Income Research & Management received a $2 billion mandate from Florida Prepaid College Board for its liability-driven strategies as well.

Twelve money management deals took place in the second quarter of 2020, a 33% increase from the previous quarter. In the second quarter of 2019, there were 24 transactions. Assets under management involved in the latest-quarter transactions totaled $6.7 trillion, up 653% from $889.8 billion in the previous quarter, mostly driven by the 22.4% stake sale of BlackRock Inc. by PNC Financial Services Group.

During the second quarter of 2020, 43 ERISA-related lawsuits were filed and/or updated. Each event represents the involved parties either reaching a settlement or filing an appeal, or a court decision was made. The parties involved in the ERISA lawsuits in the first quarter included seven financial firms, with U.S. Bank’s case reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, six health-care-related firms, and prominent companies such as Estee Lauder Inc., IBM, Costco, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, McKinsey & Co. and Phillips 66 Co.

Search activity for the first quarter of 2020 increased 50.5% from the prior quarter and increased 13.1% from the first quarter of 2019. Hiring activity decreased 20.3% from the previous quarter to $46.6 billion. The number of hires increased 9% for the quarter and increased 6.1% from the same period a year ago.

Notable activity for the first quarter of 2020 included Franklin Resources Inc.’s acquisition of money manager Legg Mason for $4.5 billion, creating a firm with $1.5 trillion in assets under management. The combined Franklin Templeton, using year-end 2018 figures, would have moved to 10th from 24th in P&I’s 2019 money manager ranking. Though the financial markets seemed to be resilient against the potential impact from COVID-19 in January and February, the financial markets priced in significant fallout from COVID-19 in March. Franklin Resources could have theoretically paid $1.25 billion less if the acquisition took place in March instead of February, or Franklin Resources might not be interested in the deal at all amid uncertainty of the financial outlooks.

During the first quarter of 2020, 31 ERISA-related lawsuits were filed and/or updated. Each event represents the involved parties either reaching a settlement, filing an appeal or a court decision was made. The parties involved in the ERISA lawsuits in the first quarter included nine financial firms, three health-care-related firms, and prominent organizations such as Northwestern University, Salesforce.com, CenturyLink Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Trader Joe’s. Cases involving Putnam Investments, U.S. Bancorp., IBM and Intel were reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

During the fourth quarter of 2019, 23 ERISA-related lawsuits were filed and/or updated. Each event represents the involved parties either reaching a settlement, filing an appeal or a court decision was made. The parties involved in the ERISA lawsuits in the fourth quarter included two insurance companies, three health-care-related firms, three universities, five financial firms, and prominent companies such as Intel Corporation and IBM.

Fifteen money management deals took place in the fourth quarter of 2019, a 15% increase from the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2018, there were 25 transactions. Assets under management involved in the transactions totaled $1.36 trillion, up 333% from $313 billion in the previous quarter and an increase of 74% from the same period a year ago.

Search activity for the fourth quarter of 2019 decreased 22.1% from the prior quarter and declined 44.7% from the fourth quarter of 2018. Hiring activity increased 31.2% from the previous quarter to $58.54 billion. The number of hires increased 0.2% for the quarter and decreased 3.2% from the same period a year ago.