Hugh Fairclough, Partner and Head of Financial Services at RSM UK, comments on Schroders end of year results and its agreed sale to Nuveen:

“Schroders’ deliberate push into private markets business in recent years is now paying dividends, and today’s numbers underline the strength of that pivot. The group has agreed a recommended £9.9bn cash offer from Nuveen, valuing the shares at up to 612p and creating a combined manager with close to $2.5tn in assets under management once the deal completes in the fourth quarter. Nuveen’s global distribution footprint will give Schroders significantly greater reach across both institutional and wealth channels.

“The firm’s existing partnership with Apollo already positioned it at the centre of accelerating wealth led demand for private markets - an area benefiting from comparatively higher yields and access to long term structural growth themes, from digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence to energy transition and decarbonisation.

“This consolidation mirrors a broader reshaping of the sector. Wealth managers are increasingly joining forces to secure scale and widen access to private assets, and the Schroders–Apollo alignment places Schroders firmly within that shift.

“This week’s market swings also show how sensitive investors remain to AI driven disruption narratives. Schroders is clearly seeking to differentiate itself from automated investment platforms by embedding proprietary AI systems - including ContextAI, Genie and multi agent research tools - into its investment process. The aim is not to replace portfolio managers but to enhance them: faster analytics, broader research coverage and a more informed active approach than robo advisers can replicate.”

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