‘Boring’ Mawer Hires Scotiabank to Advise on Possible Sale
‘Boring’ Mawer Hires Scotiabank to Explore Options Such as Sale
(Bloomberg) -- Closely held Mawer Investment Management Ltd. has hired Bank of Nova Scotia to explore options such as a sale, following a wave of transactions involving Canadian money managers.
“Given recent activity in the industry, Mawer has engaged an adviser to obtain more information on the options available to the firm as part of our strategic planning process,” Michael Mezei, Mawer’s president, said in an emailed statement Sunday. “No decision has been made to change firm ownership. Our focus remains on delivering excellent long-term investment results for our clients.”
Joanna Crozier, Mawer’s marketing manager, confirmed in an email that the Calgary-based firm was working with Scotiabank.
Canada’s big banks have been among the most active buyers of wealth management companies. Earlier this month, Toronto-Dominion Bank completed the C$792 million ($600 million) purchase of Greystone Capital Management as part of a push to become the largest Canadian money manager. Scotiabank itself last month acquired MD Financial Management for about C$2.6 billion, having earlier snapped up Montreal-based Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd.
Founded in 1974, Mawer oversees more than C$50 billion for individual and institutional investors across all major asset classes.
Mawer adheres to what it calls a “boring” approach to money management. Dubbed “Be Boring. Make Money,” the strategy “means ignoring fads and taking a long-term view of investing,” according to a note posted on the company’s website. “It means consistently sticking to a systematic, disciplined, bottom up investment approach no matter what the market outlook.”
Reuters earlier reported that Mawer was working with Scotiabank to explore a potential sale that could value the firm at up to C$2 billion.
To contact the reporter on this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Peter Jeffrey, David Scanlan
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