GSAM buys Rocaton in bid to expand advisory services

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) is buying Rocaton Investment Advisors as it attempts to increase its advisory and discretionary services for institutional clients. The addition of defined contribution plans – currently accounting for $1.5bn in client assets – will be a major boost to GSAM’s advisory business, with approximately a third of Rocaton’s $600bn in assets under advisement coming from its own plans. Rocaton and its 65 employees will stay in Norwalk, Connecticut and continue to work under its name. The deal is anticipated to close by the end of June. Terms remain undisclosed.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management agreed to acquire Rocaton Investment Advisors in a bid to expand its advisory and discretionary services for institutional clients.

Rocaton had more than $600 billion in assets under advisement as of Sept. 30. The firm and its entire staff will remain in Norwalk, Conn., and will continue to operate under the Rocaton name, a Goldman spokesman said.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2019. Terms were not disclosed.

"Rocaton's team brings deep industry expertise and value to our growing platform, which will allow us to offer more holistic and customized services to our clients," Timothy O'Neill and Eric Lane, co-heads of the consumer and investment management division at Goldman Sachs, said in a joint statement.

Rocaton offers advisory and discretionary investment services to various institutional clients, including insurance companies, endowments, foundations, health-care companies, retirement plans and financial intermediaries.

With the acquisition, GSAM will significantly boost its advisory business with defined contribution plans, which currently represents $1.5 billion in client assets, a Goldman spokesman said. About one-third of Rocaton's $600 billion in AUA is from DC plans, a Rocaton spokesman said.

"We think one of the many attractive aspects of this deal is the size of Rocaton's defined contribution business, which will complement GSAM's large presence in the defined benefit space," a spokesman at Rocaton wrote in an email, adding that the firm has about 65 employees.

About two-thirds of Rocaton's assets under advisement are in defined contribution, defined benefit and voluntary employee beneficiary association plan assets. On the outsourced CIO side of its business, Rocaton had about $12.5 billion in discretionary assets as of Sept. 30, a Rocaton spokesman wrote.

Last year, GSAM acquired the strategic partnership portion of Verus' OCIO business, which represented about $21 billion in assets under supervision.

Goldman Sachs' consumer and investment management division had about $1.5 trillion in assets under supervision as of Sept. 30.