North Square Investments will soon be under new ownership. It maintains an Average Parent rating.
Global asset manager Azimut Group is slated to acquire North Square in 2026’s first quarter. North Square’s executives will be incentivized to stay on after the transaction closes to ensure a smooth transition. Italy-based Azimut aims to boost its minimal presence in the US, and North Square is expected to launch several exchange-traded funds once the deal closes. North Square will also likely distribute some of Azimut’s strategies in the US.
North Square has ample experience in asset-management mergers and acquisitions. It doesn’t have dedicated in-house investment personnel; rather, it tends to acquire funds from other firms, take stakes in those firms, and keep the managers on as subadvisors. In early 2025, North Square added value-equity shop Foundry Partners to its stable through a merger between that group and majority-owned fixed-income affiliate CS McKee in early 2025.
North Square’s current lineup is dominated by active mutual funds and separate accounts that invest in areas where passive managers have made fewer inroads, such as US small-cap stocks, fixed income, and allocation portfolios. Some of the strategies have performed well, but more than half of the fund share classes carry above-average fees. Considering upcoming changes, the quality of the eventual lineup remains uncertain.
Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, North Square (Branding Name ID: BN00000JV6), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.
United States