Fiera Capital is the latest investment firm to buy a piece of Foresters Financial as it dismantles to focus solely on life insurance products.
The two announced Wednesday that Fiera Capital, a Montreal-based investment firm, will acquire Foresters’ Canadian asset management business for undisclosed terms.
This is the third deal in as many months for Foresters. In April, the Toronto-based company announced that it had sold assets related to its U.S. asset management business. Macquarie Investment Management picked up the First Investors family of mutual funds, while Cetera Financial Group bought Foresters’ U.S. broker dealer and advisory business.
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The latest sale “is the natural evolution of executing on our five-year strategic plan,” said Jim Boyle, Foresters’ president and chief executive officer, in a statement. “It puts us in a position of strength as we focus on streamlining and optimizing life insurance products for middle-market families, a largely underserved and underinsured group in both Canada and the United States.” Foresters also installed new members of its leadership team recently, including a new chief financial officer and chief operating officer, a spokesperson said via email. The spokesperson added that the new leaders support the decision to focus solely on life insurance.
The offloaded business is an institutional and insurance liability-driven investment firm, which managed about $10.5 billion as of April 30, according to Fiera. Following the close of the deal, Fiera’s total liability-driven investment assets under management will exceed $25 billion. The purchaser did not reveal a purchase price. “The combination of Foresters Asset Management with Fiera Capital will enhance our leading Canadian institutional fixed income and LDI capabilities,” said Jean-Philippe Lemay, president and chief operating officer of Fiera Capital’s Canadian division, in a statement.
The deal is expected to be “modestly accretive” to adjusted earnings per share in the first full year following closing, according to Fiera. The firm said it expects the deal to close in the third quarter of this year.
Less than a week ago, Fiera revealed that Natixis Investment Managers had acquired an 11 percent stake in the company. As a part of the deal, Fiera will become Natixis’ preferred Canadian distribution platform, according to the announcement. Additionally, Fiera acquired Natixis’ Canadian operations.
