The firm’s new owners have invested in the business. Private-equity firms GTCR and Reverence Capital jointly acquired Wells Fargo Asset Management from U.S.-based bank Wells Fargo in November 2021 and rebranded the new entity Allspring Global Investments. While Wells Fargo retains a less than 10% stake, GTCR and Reverence Capital split roughly 70% of the firm, and employees now own about 20%. The firm has already beefed up certain technologies and invested in its distribution capabilities, in part to rebuild the firm’s fledgling non-U.S. business. Meanwhile, employee ownership can help with the retention and alignment of investment talent.
CEO Joe Sullivan and newly appointed president Kate Burke (formerly with AllianceBernstein in a variety of executive roles) plan to focus growth on the backs of Allspring’s solid fixed-income business and customizable separately managed account platform, but they have plenty of industry company in fixed-income and SMA efforts. Separately, private-equity firms eventually exit their investments after five to 10 years, so some uncertainty remains.