Schroders buys major stake in RWC Partners

Schroders has announced it has acquired 49% of the share capital of asset management firm RWC Partners Limited.

The large stake was acquired through one of its subsidiaries and came mainly from existing third party stocks and individual shareholders. RWC will remain a separate legal entity and will continue to be managed by the existing management team. 

Peter Harrison, RWC's CEO said: 'We believe that this is an extremely positive for RWC Partners. In Schroders we have gained a highly respected and knowledgeable shareholder who has recognised the strength of the RWC business.

'We have made no secret of our desire to bring in a high quality, minority shareholder to replace the early backers of the business, and are delighted to have reached agreement with Schroders. Full control of the business rests with the management of RWC and our strategy remains unchanged. RWC will operate autonomously without any changes to the structure of any existing arrangements.'

Harrison also has previous history with Schroders, having worked there as an analyst for three years earlier in his career.

At the date of completion of the transaction, RWC had gross business assets of approximately £10 million and its total assets under management are just over €2 billion.

In the last month, the two firms had already made headlines due to the high profile move of Schroders income managers, AAA-rated Nick Purves and Ian Lance, to RWC.

This week RWC Partners also announced the launch of a Newcits fund for former JP Morgan AAA-rated star Ajay Gambhir.