With funding from Lightyear Capital, a deal was announced this week for employees of RidgeWorth Capital Management to buy RidgeWorth from parent SunTrust for a reported $265 million. RidgeWorth, a 30-year-old multi-boutique shop, manages about $50 billion in equities and fixed income. Lightyear, founded by Donald Marron, former chairman and CEO of Paine Webber, also owns Cetera, an independent broker dealer with about 7,000 reps created from units of ING.
RidgeWorth has been active and successful in penetrating the DC market. They’re led by president Jim Stueve, who came from Invesco. When SunTrust took TARP money, it limited compensation it could pay to RidgeWorth’s portfolio managers — which may have been one reason why SunTrust began shopping their asset management firm. RidgeWorth, a NAPA Firm Partner, joins Neuberger Berman as one of the few employee-owned asset managers — which some claim provides strategic benefits.
