Schroders chief executive vows to keep Cazenove Capital
Schroders’ chief executive has vowed that the company will retain its wealth management business following its £9.9bn takeover by US fund manager Nuveen.
Richard Oldfield’s pledge comes after days of speculation surrounding the future of the wealth manager, driven by minimal detail on how it would be integrated into the business in its announcement just under two weeks ago.
But Oldfield, who secured the top job in October 2024, said there was “absolutely no reason to think” Cazenove would be sold.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Oldfield said: “The wealth channel for us is really important. We want to grow it.
“The commitments that Nuveen has made are about our entire business… when they talked about keeping people, keeping the business, keeping the brand, that applies to the whole business.”
Under the terms of the agreement Schroders’ shareholders will receive 612 pence per share, with the deal set to create one of the world’s largest active asset managers, holding nearly £1.8 trillion in assets under management across institutional and wealth channels.
The deal also received the backing of the Schroders family, who hold a 42 per cent stake in of London’s oldest wealth managers, despite Oldfield rebuffing speculation in July that the family were eyeing a sale.
UK wealth management
Oldfield also insisted the sale is a “a good deal for the UK”, with the newly merged group retaining London as its non-US headquarters, as more industry figures raise questions about the future of the UK wealth management market.
The announcement came the same week a number of wealth managers saw their share prices plummet after US based wealth management platform Altruist launched a new AI tool designed to help people manage their investment strategies.
The industry is also dealing with intense regulatory scrutiny and high operational costs, leaving firms looking to swoop in as companies hunt for new owners.
Most recently, wealth manager Evelyn Partners was snapped up by high street banking giant Natwest for £2.7bn.
Schroders purchased Cazenove for £424m in 2013, securing the asset in a move to bolster its UK wealth management and private banking capabilities.
Oldfield said the wealth management business was “growing really strongly”, noting that is a number of charities as customers.
He added that Nuveen also has a “very big wealth business”.
Completing the transaction
The statement made on the day the deal was announced said there was no intention to make “any material reductions” to Schroders’ employment base for two years after the transaction completes.
Oldfield said: “It’s going to take a year to go through and do all the analysis…to come up with the right decisions about any changes that we want to make.”
He noted that the business is looking to avoid confusing clients through offering products that are exactly the same, and to “try and eliminate any overlap”.
However, not all shareholders were in favour of the deal, with some believing the takeover price was below what they deemed a “fair value”.
In response, Oldfield acknowledged that “every shareholder will have a different perspective” on the value of the deal.
He added that three different advisers provided fair value opinions to the board, so Schroders felt “pretty good about the price”.
He also confirmed that he would not receive equity in the enlarged business as part of the agreement, and that no member of the management team will get “any additional gain” out of the transaction.
Nuveen said: “The transaction involves the acquisition of the full Schroders platform and would bring together highly complementary businesses.”