The resulting firm will have more than $800 million in assets under management and will offer proprietary mutual funds, investment portfolio and wealth management, and financial planning services.
The two firms compliment each other because Roulston offers mutual funds and Hickory offers financial planning services, but neither company offered both, according to Scott Roulston, CEO of Roulston. Roulston will become the CEO of the merged organization.
Besides an increased range of products, cross-selling opportunities created from the combined group of clients and the increased economies of scale made the merger attractive, Roulston said. Both companies also wanted to add depth to their investment teams, he said.
The merged organization, for which there is no name yet, will begin operating in October 2001, pending regulatory approvals. The company will be located at Roulston & Co.s current headquarters in Cleveland.
Paul Abbey, Hickorys founder, will become senior managing director and chairman of the new firms investment committee . Kenneth Coleman, Roulstons COO will retain that title for the merged organization.
The new firm will continue to seek opportunities of growth through additional mergers and acquisitions, Roulston said.
