A $50-billion East Coast asset manager just expanded its mutual fund lineup and geographic presence, thanks to an acquisition by its parent. Watch for this fund shop to add more products, maybe through more M&A.

John W. McAuley Sterling Capital Managing Director, Head of Sales, Marketing and Client Service

John McAuley, managing director and head of sales and client service at Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sterling Capital Management [profile], confirms that on Monday the Charlotte-based shop added a mid cap value fund, a small cap value fund, and a real estate fund. That pushes the Sterling Capital Funds lineup to 25 mutual funds with about $6.7 billion in combined AUM. It's all thanks to a recent acquisition by Sterling's bank parent, BB&T.

In August, Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based BB&T bought Litiz, Pennsylvania-based Susquehanna Bancshares. That deal brought Susquehanna's Stratton Management Company [profile], and its three mutual funds, under the Sterling umbrella at BB&T. And the deal also brought Sterling a Philadelphia area office. Sterling now has more $50 billion in AUM and more than 120 employees across offices in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Richmond, San Francisco, and Virginia Beach, as well as Charlotte.

McAuley confirms that the three Stratton mutual fund PMs joined Sterling as part of the deal.

"There are other support and operational personnel that came over with the integration," McAuley tells MFWire. "All of our equity strategies operate autonomously and distinctly from one another, though they have the capability, certainly, to leverage each other's research."

Looking ahead, McAuley says that Sterling is "absolutely" open to adding or acquiring more funds, "where it makes sense." Specific areas they're interested in include international or emerging market funds, single-strategy fixed income funds, and growth strategies (Sterling currently offers more funds on the value side of the spectrum). The goal, McAuley says, is to push Sterling's $50 billion in AUM to $100 billion within five to seven years.

"The mutual fund business is a driver of growth for us," McAuley says. "We're going to be making strategic hires over the next 12 to 18 months." 

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