As Westwood continues to expand, it maintains an Average Parent rating.
Westwood has long been known for its successful value-equity team. That group started the firm in 1983 and is its largest, managing USD 8.6 billion, nearly 60% of the firm’s assets under management, and strength remains. And while the multi-asset division struggled with a period of personnel turnover and asset depletion, it has stabilized under CIO Adrian Helfert.
Over the past 15 years, however, Westwood has been an active and opportunistic acquirer. Some haven’t worked out, and so in 2022 the firm improved its due-diligence efforts by establishing a formal acquisition committee with additional headcount. This group bought Salient Partners into the fold, adding three investment teams that focused on new areas for the firm: energy and infrastructure, real estate, and tactical equity. More recently, Westwood has hired a team to provide custom solutions including direct indexing to clients and has partnered with ETF industry veteran Ben Fulton to expand Westwood’s existing ETF platform. Each of these endeavors diversifies Westwood’s business.
With that potential benefit, though, comes some uncertainty as to whether the firm can execute a broader business well and what lies ahead in terms of new products.
Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, Westwood (Branding Name ID: BN00000ACV), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.
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