A global asset management network is betting on a 36-year-old, employee-owned, $3.96-billion-AUA (as of October 31), equity SMA shop.

Jeffrey Kent "Jeff" Seeley iM Global Partner Deputy CEO, Head of U.S.

On Monday, Ken Krogulski (president of Berkshire Asset Management, LLC), Philippe Couvrecelle (CEO and founder of iM Global Partner [profile]), and Jeff Seeley (deputy CEO of iM Global Partner and CEO of iM Global Partner Fund Management) confirmed that Paris-based iM Global Partner has purchased a strategic, non-controlling (and thus minority) stake in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania-based BAM. Pricing and terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed.

The deal makes BAM iM Global Partner's ninth boutique affiliate (which they call "partners") and the eighth affiliate based in the U.S. As of November 30, the network had more than $33 billion in AUM.

Per BAM's most recent form ADV, filed back in March, prior to the iM Global Partner deal, Krogulski was BAM's principal owner, with a stake of between 50 and 74 percent of the firm. Other employee-shareholders included: vice presidents Gerard Mihalick and Mike Weaver, with between 10 and 24 percent each; and chief compliance officer Charles Martin and VP Greg Weaver with less than 5 percent each. At the time, BAM had 10 employees, not counting clerical workers.

"The partnership with iM Global Partner brings a wealth of expertise to existing and future Berkshire clients," Krogulski states. "It solidities and increases the longevity, consistency and structure of the Berkshire team, and enhances what we can achieve for our clients."

Couvrecelle lauds the BAM team for their "unique identity." Seeley praises the BAM team for thier "exceptional reputation with clients and financial advisors nationwide in the US."

"Their concentrated, long-term value-oriented approach perfectly fits the iM GLobal Partner ethos," Couvrecelle states.

"We look forward to partnering with them to introduce their strategies moving forward," Seeley states. "Their focus to conservatively grow capital for clients, while striving to offer a safe and growing income stream, provides the opportunity for investors to diversify — and indeed complement — other parts of their asset allocation."

BAM first launched in 1986. It was acquired by Legg Mason in 1999, but BAM spun back out in 2007 through a management buyout. 

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