Rob Burgess | Wealth Management
AssetMark is acquiring $12 billion in assets by taking over the Morningstar Wealth Turnkey Asset Management Platform, the companies announced on Thursday.
Morningstar Wealth will join the AssetMark platform as a third-party strategist, providing advisors with model portfolios and separately managed accounts managed by Morningstar.
After the transaction closes later this year, Morningstar Wealth will sunset its U.S. TAMP.
In the months following the deal’s close, Morningstar Wealth’s TAMP clients will have their accounts transitioned to AssetMark’s platform. The account migration process is expected not to require additional new client paperwork, and clients’ performance histories will be maintained.
“This is going to be relatively easy for advisors and clients,” said Daniel Needham, president of Morningstar Wealth. “Our focus is to make it as friction-free as possible and we’ll continue to manage our platform and deliver for our clients right up to the transition.”
The transaction was approved by the boards of directors of AssetMark Financial Holdings, the parent company of AssetMark, and Morningstar, of which Morningstar Wealth is a division. Subject to regulatory approval, necessary consents and other customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2024.
“The platform business is a scale operation,” said Needham. “We explored different ways of doing that and a partnership model was attractive.”
In April, AssetMark Financial Holdings agreed to be acquired by GTCR, a private equity firm. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of the year.
AssetMark Financial Holdings was founded in 1996 and has over 1,000 employees. The AssetMark platform serves over 9,200 advisors and over 257,000 households. As of March 31, the company had $116.9 billion in platform assets.
Morningstar Investment Management has $294 billion of assets under management and advisement globally.
