It is a known fact that the quickest route for commercial banks to achieve revenue growth and generate more fee income is to bulk up in their wealth management business through acquisitions.
City National Bank (CYN) in Los Angeles recently struck a deal to buy Rochdale Investment Management in New York and has made no secret of its desire to acquire more wealth firms.*
Others that have been buying wealth units include Wells Fargo and Bryn Mawr Bank in Pennsylvania.
Last week OnWallStreet’s Alan Kline reported that FBR (FBRC) is hinting that it may put its asset-management business up for sale, so it wouldn’t be surprising to one of the fore mentioned sweep in on the acquisition.
FBR’s asset management arm operates a family of 10 mutual fund products and has roughly $1.7 billion of assets under management, according to The Washington Business Journal.
*OnWallStreet, “FBR Considering Sale of Asset-Management Unit”, June 1, 2012, by Alan Kline