Macquarie Investment Management has agreed to acquire $12.3bn worth assets of First Investors mutual funds managed by Foresters Financial.

Macquire

Image: Macquarie Group's global headquarters in Sydney, Australia. Photo: Courtesy of Sardaka/Wikipedia.org.

The acquired assets will become part of its Delaware Funds by Macquarie family of funds. Additionally, Macquarie was also selected by Foresters to manage a portion of its general account supporting life insurance business.

Macquarie Investment Management global head Shawn Lytle said: “The First Investors funds business aligns with our mission to provide clients with investment capabilities across multiple strategies. We look forward to serving our new investors by delivering strong investment performance along with a broad and deep range of strategies across asset classes.

“We are delighted that Foresters has also selected us as manager of a portion of the Foresters general account.”

Separately, Foresters is selling its U.S. broker dealer and advisory business to Cetera Financial Group.

Foresters stated that it will continue to invest in its core life insurance business. It will concentrate more on mass- and middle-market families, which are underserved by financial institutions in the US, as well as those in Canada and the UK, which are considered to be key geographies for the company.

Macquarie has agreed to support Foresters advisors joining Cetera through its investment management offering, Delaware Funds by Macquarie.

The transactionsare subject to customary closing conditions including approval from the mutual fund shareholders of First Investors and they are expected to be closed by the end of this year.

Foresters Financial president and CEO Jim Boyle said: “In seeking a firm to acquire and manage our mutual fund assets for US investors, Macquarie Investment Management stood out as a leader that would be able to support our clients with its global platform and its commitment to investment excellence.

“The Delaware Funds by Macquarie stand for high conviction, long-term strategies, and we are confident we’ve found the right partner as we exit this area of our business.”

Macquarie Capital, the company’s subsidiary has appointed Michael Maglianaas co-head of the UK for its AEA Groupand CameliaRobu as head of leveraged finance in the EMEA region.