GSAM Acquires Standard & Poor’s Investment Advisory Services from S&P Global Market Intelligence

NEW YORK, March 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Goldman Sachs Asset Management (“GSAM”) announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire Standard & Poor’s Investment Advisory Services LLC (“SPIAS”) from S&P Global Market Intelligence, a division of S&P Global. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2019. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

SPIAS provides non-discretionary investment advice across institutional sub-advisory and intermediary distribution channels globally. It has approximately $33 billion in assets under supervision across multi-asset, equity and fixed income strategies as of December 31, 2018.

The acquisition will expand GSAM’s multi-asset offerings and rules-based equity strategies, positioning the firm to address the evolving needs of financial intermediaries and institutional clients. SPIAS manages multi-asset class model portfolios using Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and mutual funds, as well as equity portfolios produced employing a rules-based investment process.

“The firm is acquiring a compelling platform for growth and a differentiated team with a long-track record of performance. The team’s expertise will allow us to deliver greater value to the financial intermediaries and institutions we serve,” said Timothy J. O’Neill and Eric S. Lane, co-heads of the Consumer and Investment Management Division at Goldman Sachs.

“S&P Global Market Intelligence enabled us to grow our investment advisory business, and as our business continues to evolve, our focus on providing clients with solutions to more easily and efficiently manage their portfolios fits perfectly within GSAM,” said SPIAS President and Chairman Michael Thompson. “We look forward to becoming part of one of the world’s leading asset managers, which will deliver additional resources to benefit our clients and address their changing needs.” 

Forward-Looking Statements:  This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These statements, which express management’s current views concerning future events, trends, contingencies or results, appear at various places in this report and use words like “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “intend,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “strategy,” “target” and similar terms, and future or conditional tense verbs like “could,” “may,” “might,” “should,” “will” and “would.” For example, management may use forward-looking statements when addressing topics such as: the outcome of contingencies; future actions by regulators; changes in S&P Global’s business strategies and methods of generating revenue; the development and performance of S&P Global’s services and products; the expected impact of acquisitions and dispositions; S&P Global’s effective tax rates; and S&P Global’s cost structure, dividend policy, cash flows or liquidity.

Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements include, among other things:

• worldwide economic, financial, political and regulatory conditions, including geopolitical uncertainty and conditions that may result from legislative, regulatory, trade and policy changes associated with the current U.S. administration or the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union;
• the rapidly evolving regulatory environment, in Europe, the United States and elsewhere, affecting Ratings, S&P Global Platts, Indices, and S&P Global Market Intelligence, including new and amended regulations and S&P Global’s compliance therewith;
• the impact of the recent acquisition of Kensho, including the impact on S&P Global’s results of operations; any failure to successfully integrate Kensho into S&P Global’s operations; any failure to attract and retain key employees; and the risk of litigation, unexpected costs, charges or expenses relating to the acquisition;
• S&P Global’s ability to maintain adequate physical, technical and administrative safeguards to protect the security of confidential information and data, and the potential for unauthorized access to our systems or a system or network disruption that results in improper disclosure of confidential information or data, regulatory penalties and remedial costs;
• our ability to make acquisitions and dispositions and successfully integrate the businesses we acquire;
• the outcome of litigation, government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries;
• the health of debt and equity markets, including credit quality and spreads, the level of liquidity and future debt issuances and the potentially adverse impact of increased access to cash resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act;
• the demand and market for credit ratings in and across the sectors and geographies where S&P Global operates;
• concerns in the marketplace affecting S&P Global’s credibility or otherwise affecting market perceptions of the integrity or utility of independent credit ratings, benchmarks and indices;
• the effect of competitive products and pricing, including the level of success of new product developments and global expansion;
• consolidation in S&P Global’s end-customer markets;
• the introduction of competing products or technologies by other companies;
• the impact of customer cost-cutting pressures, including in the financial services industry and commodities markets;
• a decline in the demand for credit risk management tools by financial institutions;
• the level of merger and acquisition activity in the United States and abroad;
• the volatility of the energy marketplace;
• the health of the commodities markets;
• our ability to attract, incentivize and retain key employees;
• our ability to adjust to changes in European and United Kingdom markets as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, and the impact of the United Kingdom’s departure on our offerings in the European Union and United Kingdom, particularly in the event of the United Kingdom’s departure without an agreement on terms with the European Union;
• S&P Global’s ability to successfully recover should it experience a disaster or other business continuity problem from a hurricane, flood, earthquake, terrorist attack, pandemic, security breach, cyber-attack, power loss, telecommunications failure or other natural or man-made event;
• changes in applicable tax or accounting requirements, including the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the U.S.;
• the level of S&P Global’s future cash flows and capital investments;
• the impact on S&P Global’s revenue and net income caused by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; and
• S&P Global’s exposure to potential criminal sanctions or civil penalties if it fails to comply with foreign and U.S. laws and regulations that are applicable in the domestic and international jurisdictions in which it operates, including sanctions laws relating to countries such as Iran, Russia, Sudan and Syria, anti-corruption laws such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, and local laws prohibiting corrupt payments to government officials, as well as import and export restrictions.

The factors noted above are not exhaustive. S&P Global and its subsidiaries operate in a dynamic business environment in which new risks emerge frequently. Accordingly, S&P Global cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. S&P Global undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which it is made, except as required by applicable law. Further information about S&P Global’s businesses, including information about factors that could materially affect its results of operations and financial condition, is contained in S&P Global’s filings with the SEC, including Item 1a, Risk Factors, in the Annual Report on Form 10-K.

About Goldman Sachs Consumer and Investment Management Division

Goldman Sachs’ Consumer and Investment Management Division (CIMD) provides asset management and wealth management solutions to world-class institutions, high-net-worth individual investors and retail consumers globally. CIMD is one of the world’s leading investment managers, with over 700 investment professionals and more than 1,000 wealth advisors with over $1.5 trillion in assets under supervision across asset classes and strategies as of December 31, 2018.

About Standard & Poor’s Investment Advisory Services

Standard & Poor’s Investment Advisory Services LLC (“SPIAS”), is a wholly owned subsidiary of S&P Global Inc., and a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence. SPIAS provides non-discretionary advisory services to institutional clients and does not provide advice to underlying clients of the firms to which it provides advisory services.

About S&P Global  

 S&P Global is a leading provider of transparent and independent ratings, benchmarks, analytics and data to the capital and commodity markets worldwide. The Company’s divisions include S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence, S&P Dow Jones Indices and S&P Global Platts. S&P Global has approximately 21,000 employees in 33 countries. For more information visit www.spglobal.com. 

About S&P Global Market Intelligence  

At S&P Global Market Intelligence, we know that not all information is important—some of it is vital. We integrate financial and industry data, research and news into tools that help track performance, generate alpha, identify investment ideas, understand competitive and industry dynamics, perform valuations and assess credit risk. Investment professionals, government agencies, corporations and universities globally can gain the intelligence essential to making business and financial decisions with conviction. 

S&P Global Market Intelligence, a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence.

For more information, visit www.spglobal.com.  

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SOURCE S&P Global