Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc.'s chief financial officer said Wednesday it decided to sell a business unit and its stake in another to their management teams because both had shrunk considerably and no longer had a "material impact" on the parent company's bottom line.
Boston Private said late Tuesday that it had sold its 76% interest in Palo Alto, Calif.-based Sand Hill Advisors LLC to its management team with the financial support of Fiduciary Network. Separately, it said it sold Boston Private Value Investors to its management team.
The prices were not disclosed.
David Kay, Boston Private's chief financial officer, said that collectively the two firms contributed less than 2% of Boston Private's revenue and less than 1% of profit.
"These are viable companies, but they are small," he said in an interview. "They don't have a material impact on our business."
Boston Private bought Boston Private Value in 2001 and the Sand Hill stake in 2000. Kay said the transactions are not expected to have a material impact on its earnings.
He said Boston Private Value's assets under management shrank by almost half in the past two years, to $500 million at Dec. 31 from $960 million at the end of the 2006. Sand Hill's assets under management fell to $800 million, from $1.3 billion in the middle of 2007, Kay said.
Boston Private has no immediate plan to sell other units, he said, but if any shrink as Boston Private Value and Sand Hill did, "it is always an option, but right now we are happy with our lineup of affiliates. They have got a lot of upside potential."
Kay said that Boston Private, which has been an active buyer in recent years, wants to focus on organic expansion. "Right now, we are very focused on our current affiliates and investing in our current locations," he said. "There is plenty of room for growth in our existing geographies. We haven't reached saturation in those areas yet."
Boston Private Value, which is based in Concord, N.H., is to be renamed Granite Investment Advisors. The firm will become a 100% employee-owned and managed entity. Sand Hill offers comprehensive, planning-based financial strategies for wealthy individuals, families, charitable organizations and select institutions.
Kay said that in Northern California, Boston Private will continue to provide wealth advisory services through Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough and private banking services through Borel Private Bank and Trust Co. In New England, it offers private banking and investment management through its subsidiary Boston Private Bank and Trust, wealth advisory services through Rinet Co., and investment management services through Anchor Capital, Anchor/Russell and Westfield Capital Management.
Fiduciary Network funds both internal transitions and management buyouts of fee-only wealth management companies. This is its ninth completed transaction and fifth in the last sixth months.
