Federated Acquires Kaufmann Fund

Federated Investors of Pittsburgh announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Edgemont Asset Management of New York, the advisor for the Kaufmann Fund, which had $3.23 billion in net assets as of March 20, according to Federated.

The fund is now known as the Federated Kaufmann Fund, according to the announcement.

Lawrence Auriana, president of Edgemont, and Hans Utsch, the company’s chairman, who have managed the fund for the past 15 years, will continue to oversee the assets, Federated said.

In acquiring the Kaufmann Fund, Federated has expanded the breadth of its equity product line. The fund is a small-to-mid-cap product, which Federated lacked, said Rebecca Taylor, a Federated spokesperson.

“If you were to look at our mix of products, there was a gap,” Taylor said. “This was a nice fit.”

With the acquisition of the Kaufmann Fund, Federated managed approximately $21.4 billion in equity fund assets as of April 20, according to the company.

Current Kaufmann Fund investors will notice virtually no change in the way the fund is handled, the company said. However, because Federated is a wholesaler, new private investors, who could previously access the fund using an 800 number, must now use Federated’s sales channels, which include broker/dealers and other intermediaries, according to the announcement.

Federated managed approximately $146 billion in 138 mutual funds and 60 separate accounts as of March 31, according to the company.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Money Management Executive
MORE FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING