The Charles Schwab Corporation is to acquire ThomasPartners, which includes an upfront payment of USD85m in cash and the opportunity for additional payments contingent on future growth in assets under management.
The deal is expected to close during the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions.
Headquartered in Wellesley, Massachusetts, ThomasPartners is a dividend income-focused asset management firm with USD2.3bn in AUM as of 30 September in largely growth-oriented investment portfolios designed to generate dividend income streams.
At current AUM levels, Schwab anticipates that the acquisition will be neutral to EPS for the first 12 months post-closing, and become modestly accretive within the next 12 months. Given demographic trends that are fuelling growing demand for income-oriented investment strategies, Schwab intends to further leverage ThomasPartners’ strong track record of growth and performance over time.
The chief executive and chairman of ThomasPartners, Gregory Thomas, and his investment team led by president, chief operating officer and chief investment officer William McMahon, will remain with the firm in order to maintain and oversee the investment and portfolio management processes in place today.
Its money management solutions will be made available at a lower cost to clients of independent registered investment advisers (RIAs) through the Schwab Advisor Services platform. At closing Schwab will waive transaction commission costs for ThomasPartners’ managed accounts custodied on Schwab’s Advisor Services platform.
ThomasPartners’ portfolios will be offered to Schwab retail clients as part of its growing selection of advisory solutions which include Schwab Advisor Network, Windhaven Portfolios, Schwab Managed Portfolios, Schwab Private Client, and access to third party portfolio management. Assets in advised accounts at Schwab have grown steadily over the years and today stand at USD124bn. After closing, ThomasPartners will no longer directly market to individual investors.
“There is a growing interest among investors and investment advisors in the growth-oriented dividend income approach that is ThomasPartners’ core focus and expertise,” says Walt Bettinger (pictured), Schwab president and chief executive officer. “With more than four million baby boomers entering retirement age each year in the US, and tens of millions approaching that milestone over the coming decade, a rapidly growing segment of investors and investment advisors are focusing on producing income within their investment portfolios.
“ThomasPartners’ dividend strategy complements Schwab’s existing asset management line-up and helps provide our clients with a more complete range of money management solutions to serve them along their investing journey.”
“We have worked together with Schwab since 2001, with more than half our assets currently custodied on Schwab’s Advisor Services platform, and we are excited to be joining such a great company,” says Thomas. “We believe the stars are aligned for a growing demand for the kind of money management approach we deliver, and Schwab’s large national footprint, wonderful reputation and growing client base will enable us to reach a vastly larger potential pool of investors.”
