Short Takes: U.S. Trust Buys Units From J&W Seligman

United States Trust Corp. has completed its acquisition of the individual account business and trust bank from J.&W. Seligman & Co., a New York money manager.

As part of the deal, for accounts with $900 million in managed assets, U.S. Trust will pay up to $20 million in cash.

In addition, U.S. Trust said it had added 11 J.&W. Seligman investment, tax, and trust executives to its staff, which includes 50 portfolio managers. Among the new senior staffers are four portfolio managers, a senior fiduciary trust executive, and a senior family-wealth specialist.

U.S. Trust now manages $41.1 billion of assets, primarily in personal investment accounts for affluent families and individuals.

In a prepared statement H. Marshall Schwartz, the chairman and chief executive of U.S. Trust, said the deal reflects his bank's strategic decision to concentrate all resources on its core asset management, private banking, special fiduciary, and corporate business.

The new businesses will be merged into U.S. Trust's current structure, said John C. Hover 2d, executive vice president for personal asset management and private banking at U.S. Trust.

Mr. Hover said that though the transaction is "symbolic of things to come," it does not represent a departure from the bank's traditional line of business.

U.S. Trust announced its intention to acquire J.&W. Seligman's businesses in January. Seligman will continue to manage $6.5 billion in mutual funds and $3.5 billion of institutional accounts.

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