Investor communications and technology company Broadridge Financial Solutions will purchase a unit of Thomson Reuters Lipper to expand its enterprise data and analytics capabilities for mutual fund manufacturers, ETF issuers, and fund administrators.
The Fiduciary Services and Competitive Intelligence unit provides information on fund industry flows by country and distribution channel. The purchase includes the FundFile, SalesWatch and Marketplace services as well as Advisory Contract Renewal15(c) for validating and benchmarking fee and expense agreements with mutual fund families.
Broadridge said the unit would integrate with its mutual fund and retirement business and expand the functionality of Access Data, a suit of compliance and reporting tools that Broadridge said covers 90 percent of U.S. long-term mutual fund assets and 95 percent of all ETF assets.
“As regulatory pressures increase and new digital opportunities emerge, these solutions will help our clients mitigate risks, meet their fiduciary responsibilities and enhance sales productivity,” said Richard Daly, the president and CEO of Broadridge.
Gerard Scavelli, the president of Broadridge’s mutual funds and retirement solutions business, said the purchase will help meet client demands for compliance oversight, fee benchmarking and analysis, and access to global fund flow, expense data and fund profile information.
"With the addition of these fiduciary services and competitive intelligence capabilities, we will expand our reach and innovative solutions for the mutual fund industry globally,” Scavelli said.
A Thomson Reuters spokesperson said the terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company agreed to provide Broadridge with data on investment product classifications, pricing, performance, benchmarking, product asset positions, and product flows to ensure continuity of the product. The same personnel team will continue their roles at Broadridge.
Thomson Reuters called the Fiduciary Services and Competitive Intelligence unit a “non-core” service, and that selling to Broadridge will help it focus on its core mutual fund business.
"This sale will enable us to increase our focus on the core content business and further enable development and new capabilities for serving the asset management and wealth management markets,” said Lars Asplund, the managing director at Thomson Reuters.
The deal is expected to close in Broadridge's fourth fiscal quarter.