Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), a leading global active asset manager, and Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTS), which operates a multi-boutique asset management business, today announced they have agreed to a strategic partnership that will focus on enhancing both firms’ growth opportunities with Virtus representing AllianzGI’s compelling investment strategies in the U.S. retail market to existing and potentially new clients.
Central to the partnership, Virtus will become the investment adviser, distributor and/or administrator of AllianzGI’s approximately $23 billion in open-end, closed-end and retail separate account assets 1. AllianzGI teams will continue to manage the strategies in a subadvisory capacity, providing continuity for AllianzGI’s U.S. retail clients. AllianzGI’s Dallas-based Value Equity team, formerly known as NFJ Investment Group, which manages approximately $7 billion of the assets, will join Virtus as an affiliated manager. The partnership also provides for future joint product development of investment solutions for retail clients in the U.S.