SEI (NASDAQ: SEIC) today announced the expansion of its existing asset management relationship with BMO Financial Group (BMO) into the Asian market. To enable distribution to accredited Asian investors, SEI has registered 25 of its Dublin UCITS funds in Singapore. Last month, BMO launched a new solution comprised of four risk-profiled Global Strategic Portfolios (SPs) managed by SEI. These SPs provide multiple levels of active management and diversification across six core asset classes: equity, fixed income, inflation sensitive, liquidity, absolute return and income. This news was previously announced on SEI's fourth-quarter 2018 earnings call.
"We are thrilled to grow our strategic partnership with BMO. Bringing our expertise in building and managing custom investment solutions to Asia further supports our strategy to provide best-in-class services and solutions to our global clients," said Kevin Barr, Executive Vice President of SEI and Head of the Investment Management Unit and Asset Management Distribution Team. "We look forward to expanding our presence in the Asian market as we continue to serve the investors in this region and globally."
SEI's new strategic partnership with BMO Private Bank Asia builds upon an existing 21-year asset management relationship with Bank of Montreal Nesbitt Burns (BMO NB) in Canada. BMO NB's Quadrant program is a jointly-designed, white-label-supported mutual fund wrap program that uses SEI's goals-based asset allocation advice and is implemented via SEI's underlying Canadian Asset Class Funds. Quadrant is available to over 1,300 BMO NB advisors and their retail clients across Canada. Additionally, BMO Wealth Management, an SEI client in the U.S. since 2005, is currently on SEI's legacy platform, TRUST 3000®, and will migrate their existing book of business to the SEI Wealth PlatformSM in 2019.
"Our partnership with SEI will enable us to further enhance our investment solutions to meet the needs of our private bank clients in Asia," said Monique Chan, CEO of BMO Private Bank Asia. "BMO has a longstanding relationship with SEI in North America, and we look forward to expanding that collaboration to Asia."
About SEI's Asset Management Distribution Team
SEI's Asset Management Distribution Team provides customized strategic partnerships enabling open-architecture investment solutions aligned to end-investors' goals, supporting leading financial service intermediaries globally. The group helps large distributors in North America, Europe and Asia implement a goals-based advice framework that combines the behavioral finance approach pioneered by SEI with the client's proprietary advice platform to create a distinct end-client offering. SEI's Asset Management Distribution Team is a part of the Private Banking business unit of SEI. For more information, visit seic.com/amd.
About the SEI Wealth PlatformSM
The SEI Wealth Platform (the Platform) is an outsourcing solution for wealth managers encompassing wealth processing services and wealth management programs, combined with business process expertise. With the Platform, SEI provides wealth management organizations with the infrastructure, operations, and administrative support necessary to capitalize on their strategic objectives in a constantly shifting market. The SEI Wealth Platform supports trading and transactions on 158 stock exchanges in 56 countries and 43 currencies, through the use of straight-through processing and a single operating infrastructure environment. For more information, visit: seic.com/wealthplatform.
About SEI
After 50 years in business, SEI (NASDAQ:SEIC) remains a leading global provider of investment processing, investment management, and investment operations solutions that help corporations, financial institutions, financial advisors, and ultra-high-net-worth families create and manage wealth. As of Dec. 31, 2018, through its subsidiaries and partnerships in which the company has a significant interest, SEI manages, advises or administers $884 billion in hedge, private equity, mutual fund and pooled or separately managed assets, including $307 billion in assets under management and $573 billion in client assets under administration. For more information, visit seic.com.
About BMO Financial Group and BMO Private Bank
Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider - the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $765 billion as of July 31, 2018, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets. BMO Private Bank is a division of BMO Wealth Management. Banking and financial services are offered through Bank of Montreal, Hong Kong Branch and Singapore Branch.
