BWhen it took over the asset manager of the Dutch insurer NN, DWS, the fund company of Deutsche Bank, was left behind. On Thursday, the American investment bank Goldman Sachs announced the acquisition of the fund company NN Investment Partners (NNIP) for 1.6 billion euros. It is the largest takeover of the Wall Street house under CEO David Solomon, who took over in 2018.
There is said to have been a bidding race for the asset manager, in which DWS, the major Swiss bank UBS and the American insurer Prudential Financial are said to have participated. NNIP has assets of EUR 290 billion under management and more than 900 employees. In addition, there are other assets of 60 billion euros for which the asset manager has an advisory mandate.
Consolidation in the industry
Goldman Sachs is interested in making the business model less dependent on the fluctuating capital market and trading business. That is why the asset management business is being strengthened. Goldman Sachs claims it manages $ 2.3 trillion and now has $ 600 billion in Europe with the NNIP takeover. In addition, the NN insurance group has undertaken long-term to have assets of 190 billion euros, which the fund company has invested so far, managed under the care of Goldman Sachs. “The acquisition allows us to accelerate our growth strategy and expand our platform in wealth management,” said Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.
According to Goldman Sachs, NNIP offers a wide range of equity and bond products and, in terms of investment policy, very strong sustainability, social development and good corporate governance. These aspects are abbreviated as ESG in the financial market after the English terms environment, social and governance. The NNIP acquisition is the second major transaction this year in the European wealth management industry. In the spring, the French company Amundi took over Lyxor, which is also French. In particular, the passive index fund (ETF) business is forcing providers to expand in order to reduce fixed costs.
Goldman Sachs apparently paid a lot for NNIP. Credit Suisse analysts had expected a slightly lower price. DWS, which manages 820 billion euros, emphasized that every transaction must show a long-term growth path. “Instead, the priority here was obviously to achieve a maximum sales price immediately. We’re too disciplined for that, ”said the second largest German fund company on Thursday.
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