A press release posted Thursday says, "U.S. Bancorp today announced that it will receive a 9.5 percent stake in Chicago-based Nuveen Investments and cash consideration in exchange for the long-term asset management business of FAF Advisors (FAF)." The FAF money market mutual fund unit will remain and will be renamed U.S. Bancorp Asset Management.
The release explains, "FAF, an affiliate of U.S. Bancorp, is advisor to the First American Funds family of mutual funds. This transaction will add approximately $25 billion of long-term assets under management, which are currently managed by FAF Advisors, to Nuveen Asset Management, which manages $75 billion in municipal fixed income assets and serves as the advisor of the Nuveen funds. Upon completion of the transaction, Nuveen Investments, which currently manages $150 billion of assets across several high-quality affiliates, will manage a combined total of $175 billion in institutional and retail assets."
Regarding the cash business, the release says, "U.S. Bancorp will retain the investment products and capabilities to support custom cash management, securities lending, stable value and advisory services to the First American Money Market Funds. These investment products and services will continue to be provided by the same team that provided them prior to this transaction. This team will operate under the new name, 'U.S. Bancorp Asset Management,' and will be led by Joseph Ulrey, who will be named chief executive officer of U.S. Bancorp Asset Management."
It adds, "Liquidity and cash related investment vehicles will continue to be a core competency of U.S. Bank where it has achieved both scale and significant expertise, with almost $60 billion in assets under management. U.S. Bank's clients will see no change to the investment teams that have supported them and provided excellent investment performance over the years. U.S. Bank is committed to investing in the resources necessary to manage these products going forward. U.S. Bancorp Asset Management will continue to have its headquarters at its present location in downtown Minneapolis."
The release also says of the stock and bond funds, "FAF and Nuveen Asset Management will operate under the name of Nuveen Asset Management with operations in Chicago and Minneapolis once this strategic alliance is completed. The vast majority of the employees of FAF joining the combined business will remain located in Minneapolis. The transaction is expected to close before year end and is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals of the mutual funds' boards of directors."
The First American Money Market Funds rank 17 among 82 U.S. money fund managers tracked by our Money Fund Intelligence XLS with $45.8 billion in assets.
