Neuberger Berman Group LLC announced today that it completed its employee-led buyout of the asset management group from bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings, which retains a minority stake in new company. Neuberger Berman was originally founded in 1939 and was one of the first firms to offer a no-load mutual fund to individual investors. The firm now employs 1,600 people, including approximately 250 investment professionals.
In 2003, when Neuberger Berman became a wholly owned subsidiary of Lehman, the company was an equity-focused manager with $65 billion in assets. The previous year, Lehman had acquired fixed income manager Lincoln Capital Management, which was later renamed Lehman Brothers Asset Management. The two groups firm the core of the new Neuberger Berman that now has $158 billion in assets under management, which is down from over $230 billion early in 2008. According to its press release “approximately 50% of the assets are managed in core and specialty fixed income and liquidity portfolios, approximately 40% in a broad range of equity portfolios, and approximately 10% in alternative investment products including hedge funds and private equity funds.”
Roy R. Neuberger, who co-founded Neuberger Berman in 1939 with Robert Berman, stated in the press release that “this is a particularly proud day for me…It is wonderful to see the firm independent once again, and moving forward with a continuing commitment to common-sense investing and putting its clients first.” |
