Strategic Insight parent Asset International has completed its anticipated acquisition of certain FRC products—and says it will make “significant investments to strengthen, enhance and expand acquired FRC products.”

Corporate acquisitions using overpriced shares of stock rarely do much to cushion the decline the shares eventually suffer, according to a new study.

BOSTON—The largest, and most successful, asset managers are structured as partnerships, Bob Pozen, chairman emeritus of MFS Investment Management, told Fund Forum USA’s Global Fund Distribution Summit here Monday.

The owners of Standard & Poor’s Indices and Dow Jones Indices will create a joint venture in index services.

U.S. firms were the most active acquirers of emerging markets companies in the first half of 2011, according to KPMG International, closing 144 deals. This was nearly twice the 82 acquisitions by Canada. The U.K. made 62 deals, followed by Japan, with 61.

Sales of asset managers slowed in the most recent quarter after an 18-month surge as fewer independent and foreign-owned firms changed hands, according to Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP.

Having gone into bankruptcy, Financial Research Corp. is now being evaluated by Strategic Insight parent Asset International for potential purchase. Asset International, however, is only interested in purchasing certain FRC research products: those covering 529 college savings plans, alternative investments, target-date funds, industry assets under management by company and distribution channel, sub-advised funds and its “Monitor” research.

Touchstone Investments and Old Mutual Asset Management have entered into an agreement whereby Touchstone will acquire the $2 billion U.S. mutual fund business of Old Mutual, bringing Touchstone’s assets to nearly $10 billion. The deal will also add several new sub-advisors to Touchstone’s roster of fund managers.

State Street has acquired Complementa Investment-Controlling AG, a Swiss supplier of investment performance measurement and analytics services.

Guggenheim Partners and Rydex/SGI announced Wednesday that Guggenheim will acquire Rydex in the first quarter of 2012 and combine its asset management capabilities under the name Guggenheim Investments. Once the deal is closed, Guggenheim Investments will have $119 billion of assets under management. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

SS&C Technologies Holdings has completed its acquisition of BDO Simpson Xavier Fund Administration Services Limited, in Dublin, Ireland.

Broadridge has acquired Paladyne Systems, a provider of front-, middle- and back-office trading platforms for multiple asset classes, for $76.5 million. Paladyne also provides portfolio management tools, pricing and valuation applications, data warehousing and data aggregation and reporting.

Allianz announced Tuesday it is rolling up its Allianz asset management division and PIMCO units into a new structure to be called Allianz Asset Management, effective Jan. 1.

Natixis Global Advisors has acquired a controlling interest in Darius Capital Partners, an investment advisor that offers a menu of third-party hedging strategies. These include Undertakings for the Collective Investment of Transferable Securities (UCITs), managed accounts, hedge funds, hedge fund replicators, funds-of-funds and alternative exchange-traded funds.

Tom Steinert-Threlkeld

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services will acquire Securities America, the embattled, independent broker-dealer subsidiary of Ameriprise, for an initial payment of $150 million in cash, according to a company statement released Wednesday morning.

Envestnet’s platform services agreement with FundQuest 18 months ago has gone well, apparently.

DST Systems Reviews Strategic OptionsAugust 5, 2011Chris KentourisAfter insisting it wants to stay independent, DST Systems on Friday came close to confirming it was on the block.Like what you see? Click here to sign up for Securities Technology Monitor's weekly newsletter to get the latest news and analysis that matters to the effective operation of capital markets.Last month, DST said it was not entertaining discussions with any party regarding a sale of the company and didn’t think its stock price was representative of its long-term intrinsic value. Therefore, it couldn’t entertain a takeover.But on Friday, the Kansas City, Mo. based firm which provides recordkeeping and other services to mutual funds and broker-dealers, said that it hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch and law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP to advise its board. Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP is providing legal advice.“The board of directors of DST Systems, Inc continuing its long standing practice of engaging in an ongoing review of the Company’s business plan, assets and investment portfolio,” said DST in a statement on Friday.In that same statement, DST also confirmed that it rejected a bid from Russell Glass, the founder of RDG Capital LLC, that he and two other people be added to its board. Glass said in June he made a bid to buy DST.DST’s stock dropped $2.92 a share or six percent to $45.91a share on Thursday giving the firm a market value of $2.1 billion.DST’s news on Friday followed a dismal second quarter earnings report; second quarter earnings fell 41 percent to $55.2 million from the year earlier period due to a large payment the firm received when a customer dropped its contract last year.The 2010 figure included a $58 percent termination payment. Eliminating the payment from earnings, DST’s earnings declined 14 percent to $49.4 million from $57.6 million the year earlier in large part due to a decline in the number of registered accounts it handles. Revenues declined 9 percent in the 2011 second quarter to $424.1 million.After insisting it wants to stay independent, DST Systems on Friday came close to confirming it was on the block.

Private equity firm Warburg Pincus has acquired a majority stake in The Mutual Fund Store as well as a minority stake in Summit Partners, which invested in The Mutual Fund Store in 2006.

DST Systems has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ALPS for $250 million in cash.