Wells Fargo to buy global equity manager EverKey

Wells Fargo & Co., the fourth- largest U.S. bank by assets, said it agreed to purchase EverKey Global Partners to offer clients a greater variety of investment strategies. EverKey's 11-person staff led by Jeff Everett, former chief investment officer of Templeton Global Advisors Ltd., will become part of Wells Fargo's asset-management group, the San Francisco-based bank said today in a statement. EverKey oversees about $215 million through global equity strategies including a long/short approach, Laura Fay, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman, said in a phone interview. “We remain focused on broadening our investment capabilities to meet the needs of our clients,” Mike Niedermeyer, head of Wells Fargo's asset-management group, said in the statement. The purchase of EverKey furthers Wells Fargo's strategy of making a collection of autonomous boutique investment firms and strategies available to clients. The asset-management group oversaw $449 billion at the end of September through such units as Wells Capital Management, European Credit Management Ltd. and Golden Capital Management LLC, a quantitative investment manager, according to the statement. The transaction is expected to close Jan. 1, Wells Fargo said. EverKey has offices in New York and the Bahamas. --Bloomberg News--