Wells Fargo Buys 35% Stake in Hedge-Fund Firm

Bloomberg reports that the bank has purchased a 35% stake in the Washington-based firm and has an option to make a controlling investment, Wells Fargo asset-management chief Mike Niedermeyer said in an interview. Rock Creek oversees about $7bn, giving clients access to handpicked hedge funds and emerging markets, the bank said in a statement, which didn’t disclose financial terms.

'We view this as one of the fastest-growing segments in the asset-management business', said Niedermeyer, whose business manages $450bn for customers at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo. 'While it’s of a greater interest to larger clients, it’s quickly becoming a larger area of focus for middle-size and smaller endowments, and state pension funds'.

Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, 59, has sought to expand businesses that are less likely to be hampered by new global banking regulations and record-low interest rates. In April, Wells Fargo announced it would buy Merlin Securities LLC, a prime brokerage that caters to hedge funds and other clients with as much as $2bn in assets.

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