![]() | |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Investment management |
Founded | 1912 |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Woody Bradford (CEO and Chair) |
Products | Asset management Pension plans |
AUM | ~US$202.9 billion (2022) |
Number of employees | 350 |
Parent |
|
Website | www |
Conning is a global investment management firm serving the insurance industry. [1] Conning supports institutional investors, including pension plans, with investment and asset management products, risk modeling software, and industry research. [2] Founded in 1912, Conning has offices in Boston, Cologne, Hartford, Hong Kong, London, New York and Tokyo. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2022) |
Conning & Company was founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 1912 by William Smith Conning. Conning was born in Slingerlands, New York, just outside of Albany on September 16, 1877, and moved to Hartford in 1904 to serve as office manager for investment firm Hornblower & Weeks.
He founded the firm together with William C. Goeben, a colleague of Conning's at Hornblower & Weeks. The firm embraced the technology of the day, providing election returns to clients by wire from New York during President Woodrow Wilson’s t narrow, re-election victory in 1916 over Charles Evans Hughes.
In 1920, Conning & Company installed a bond ticker and moved into a newly constructed building on Lewis Street in Hartford. In January 1923, Conning Realty Company was incorporated for $50,000 by Conning, Goeben, Mitchell and Charles T. Treadway.
In 1935, a year shy of celebrating its 60th anniversary, the Hartford Stock Exchange closed after failing to comply with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the firm was no longer registered with the exchange. Two of the oldest investment firms in Hartford joined forces when Conning & Company merged with Ballard & Company on December 4, 1942, to become Conning & Company and Ballard.
In late 1948, William S. Conning’s wife, Carolyn Dermott Conning, died. Four months later, the widowed Conning died at the age of 71, leaving behind the couple’s daughter, Katharine S. Conning, who died in 1996.
In 1950, Conning & Company began offering insurance stock research and advice to institutional investors.
After Conning & Company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1962, the firm continued to emphasize research and education. In 1968, the firm became a Registered Investment Advisor with the SEC.
During 1970, the firm branched out into consulting and strategic industry research for senior insurance executives. By 1974, the firm had 13 Partners and 60 employees operating in Hartford with a subsidiary, Fox-Pitt Kelton Inc., headquartered in London. The subsidiary provided research on U.S. insurance companies and banks to institutional investors throughout Europe.
In the mid- to late-1980s, the firm formed two new groups: a venture capital unit to raise private equity for insurance investments and an asset management group to manage insurance companies’ assets.
In 1995, Conning Corp. and its subsidiary Conning & Company. were acquired by General American Life Insurance Company (GALIC). Conning Corp.’s asset management business was merged with General American Investment Management Company (GAIMCO) to form Conning Asset Management Company (now known as Conning, Inc.). In 1997, GALIC took Conning Corp. public and completed an initial public offering of 2.875 million shares in 1997. The company began trading on NASDAQ as CNNG. [8]
In August 1998, Conning Asset Management acquired Schroeder Mortgage Associates LP, a small real estate investment company in Manhattan. [9] Four months later, Conning Corp. and Conning Asset Management acquired Noddings Investment Group, a small convertible bond asset manager and broker-dealer located near Chicago.
Conning Corp. also acquired the insurance company and high-grade fixed income management business of TCW Group, based in Los Angeles. In 1999, Forbes ranked Conning Corp. 82nd on its list of 200 Best Small Companies. [10] [11]
In 2000, MetLife acquired Conning Corp. and took it private, [12] [13] paying $12.50 a share in cash. Later that year, Conning acquired Charter Oak Asset Management of Hartford, and also spun out its MarketStance business in an MBO.
Swiss Reinsurance Company acquired Conning Corp. in July 2001 to build the third-party asset management business. As part of these changes, Conning & Company’s broker-dealer business was shut down and the remnants were combined with Fox-Pitt Kelton Inc.’s similar business; also, its insurance industry research and publications business was transferred to Fox-Pitt Kelton management. [14] [15] [16]
In 2002, Swiss Re Asset Management's Americas’ asset liability management unit came under Conning's control with 20 employees relocating to Hartford. In June, Conning Asset Management Company sold its Mortgage Loan and Real Estate business to Key Corp, and in December, Conning & Company and Conning Asset Management Company sold Noddings to First Albany.
In the first six months of 2003, the company spun out Schroeder Mortgage and Conning Capital Partners in MBOs. Conning US then took over management of SR Asset Management's European third-party asset management businesses in Dublin and London. Although Swiss Re continued to own the entities, they were renamed Conning Asset Management (Europe) Limited located in Dublin and Conning Asset Management Limited located in London.
In 2004, Conning Corp. and Conning, Inc. merged with and into Conning & Company, leaving two entities: Conning & Company and Conning Asset Management Company which then changed its name to Conning, Inc. Also in 2004, Conning & Company acquired Conning Research & Consulting, Inc. a research business from its affiliate Fox-Pitt, Kelton, Inc.
In October 2009, Aquiline Capital Partners acquired Conning & Company from Swiss Reinsurance Company. [17] [18]
In 2010, Conning launched its High-Dividend Equity Fund strategy and acquired the assets of DFA Capital Management, a market leader in economic, capital markets and risk modeling software. The deal included some of DFA's management team, staff, and ADVISE and GEMS software suites.
On September 20, 2011, Conning and Cathay Financial Holdings received regulatory approval for their previously announced joint venture to form a new Hong Kong-headquartered asset management company, now known as Conning Asia Pacific Limited. Later that year, Conning and The Phoenix Companies entered into a multiyear investment agreement under which Conning acquired Goodwin Capital Advisers, Inc. and took management control of the Phoenix's publicly traded fixed income general accounts insurance assets totaling approximately $8 billion.
In June 2014, Conning completed the acquisition of certain assets of Brookfield Investment Management Inc.’s Core Fixed Income Insurance Business. The investment team managing these assets joined Conning in its newly formed midtown Manhattan investment office. [19]
On September 18, 2015, Cathay Financial Holding Co., Ltd. (TWSE: 2882), completed its acquisition of Conning through its subsidiary, Cathay Life Insurance Co, Ltd. This transaction provided complete continuity for Conning and its clients. [20] [21]
On January 31, 2016, Conning acquired Octagon Credit Investors, LLC ("Octagon"), a U.S.-based investment manager with expertise in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), bank loans and high yield bonds. [22] [23]
In June 2020, Conning Holdings Limited completed the acquisition of a majority interest in the Danish asset management firm Global Evolution. [24] [25]
In July 2023, Italian insurance group Assicurazioni Generali agreed to acquire Conning as part of a partnership with Taiwan's Cathay Financial Holding unit Cathay Life Insurance. [7] [26] [27] [28] On April 3, 2024, it was announced that the acquisition had been completed. [29]
Genworth Financial, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, provides life insurance, long-term care insurance, mortgage insurance, and annuities.
Markel Group Inc. is a group of companies headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, and originally founded in 1930 as an insurance company.
Mediobanca is an Italian investment bank founded in 1946 at the initiative of Raffaele Mattioli and Enrico Cuccia to facilitate the post-World War II reconstruction of Italian industry. Cuccia led Mediobanca from 1946 to 1982. Today, it is an international banking group with offices in Milan, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Luxembourg, New York and Paris.
Federated Hermes is an investment manager headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1955 and incorporated on October 18, 1957, the company manages $758 billion of customer assets, as of Dec. 31, 2023. The company offers investments spanning equity, fixed-income, alternative/private markets, multi-asset and liquidity management strategies, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), separate accounts, closed-end funds and collective investment funds. Clients include corporations, government entities, insurance companies, foundations and endowments, banks and broker/dealers.
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., usually known as The Hartford, is a United States-based investment and insurance company. The Hartford is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in its namesake city of Hartford, Connecticut. It was ranked 160th in Fortune 500 in the year of 2020. The company's earnings are divided between property-and-casualty operations, group benefits and mutual funds.
Assurant, Inc. is a global provider of risk management products and services with headquarters in Atlanta. Its businesses provide a diverse set of specialty, niche-market insurance products in the property, casualty, extended device protection, and preneed insurance sectors. The company's main operating segments are Global Housing and Global Lifestyle.
Virtusa Corporation is an American-based global information technology services company that provides digital engineering and technology services for companies in the financial services, healthcare, communications, media, entertainment, travel, manufacturing, and technology industries worldwide. Virtusa's capabilities range across digital transformation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, data analytics, and other technology consulting services to customers in 25+ countries in 50+ locations around the globe.
Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. or commonly known as Generali Group is an Italian insurance company based in Trieste. As of 2022, it is the largest insurance company in Italy and ranks among the world's largest insurance companies by net premiums and assets.
UMB Financial Corporation is an American financial services holding company founded in 1913 as City Center Bank and based in Kansas City, Missouri. It offers a number of financial services from checking and savings accounts, credit services including home mortgages, auto loans, business loans and credit cards, to investing and wealth management, all are offered to individuals, companies and offers additional customization options for private wealth management.
Mitchell H. Caplan is a former CEO of E-Trade Financial Corporation.
Crescent Capital Group is a global alternative investment firm focused on below investment grade credit markets with primary strategies that include funds that invest in leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, mezzanine debt, special situations, and distressed securities. The firm has approximately $40 billion of assets under management and has made investments in over 190 companies since its inception as well as expanded into the European market with operations based in London.
TCW Group is an asset management firm based in Los Angeles, California.
Robert D. Beyer is an American investor and executive. He is currently Chairman of Chaparal Investments LLC, a private investment firm and diversified holding company with interests in both financial and operating assets. Previously, he was Executive Chairman of Crescent Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded blank check company that merged with LiveVox Holdings, Inc. in 2021. He was Chief Executive Officer and a director of TCW Group from 2005 until 2009, a diversified investment management firm with assets in excess of $150 billion; he previously served as president and Chief Investment Officer from 2000 until 2005.
Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller was an investment bank focused on mergers and acquisitions advisory services, private placements of debt and equity as well as equity research. FPK specialised in transactions involving financial institutions and financial services companies.
The Phoenix Companies, Inc., is a financial services company that traces its origins to 1851.
Guggenheim Partners, LLC is a global investment and advisory financial services firm that engages in investment banking, asset management, capital markets services, and insurance services.
FNZ is a global financial services company that provides investment platforms to major financial institutions and wealth management firms. As of May 2024, FNZ manages over US$1.5 trillion in assets. FNZ's technology platform provides services such as investment front office, tax wrappers and investment back office, operating under a platform as a service delivery model.
SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational holding company headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, that sells software and software as a service to the financial services industry. The company has offices in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
CI Financial is a Canadian investment management company based in Toronto, Ontario. It offers investment management and wealth management services targeted to high net worth retail investors, as well as brokerage and trading services to portfolio managers and institutional investors.