Today Legg Mason [profile] revealed plans to sell off its $9 billion Legg Mason Investment Counsel business to the Stifel Corporation, a financial services holding company and broker-dealer in St. Louis, Missouri.

For Legg, this would be the last wealth advisory business, and the firm is choosing to focus on its more scaleable retail and institutional asset management businesses, said spokeswoman Mary Athridge. Those include Western Asset Management, The Permal Group, ClearBridge Investments, Brandywine Global, Royce & Associates and the recently acquired quant shop QS Investors..The firm has $673 billion in assets under management.

Meanwhile, Stifel wants to expand its wealth management practice. The Legg group "is a high touch advisory business that fits well with our wealth advisory team. It's an extension of our high-net-worth practice," said Sarah Anderson, who handles investor relations for Stifel. The Legg boutique will drop the Legg Mason name when it joins Stifel, but will remain an independent group within Stifel and all its key people have signed agreements and will remain intact, Anderson said.

The deal is expected to close in the fall and the terms were not disclosed. 

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