Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. was an American

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of value from the things that a group or entity is responsible for, over their whole life cycles. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as buildings ...

and

financial planning In general usage, a financial plan is a comprehensive evaluation of an individual's current pay and future financial state by using current known variables to predict future income, asset values and withdrawal plans. This often includes a bu ...

company founded in 1937 in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. It was a

publicly traded company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

from 1998 to 2021, and briefly had its headquarters in

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As o ...

, and was planning a move back to

Downtown Kansas City Downtown Kansas City is the central business district (CBD) of Kansas City, Missouri and the Kansas City metropolitan area. It is between the Missouri River in the north, to 31st Street in the south; and from the Kansas–Missouri state line east ...

before the company was sold. It operated asset management and distribution subsidiaries, including Ivy Investment Management Company and Waddell & Reed Investment Management Company. The company distributed products through three primary channels: * Advisors channel (a network of personal financial advisors around the country); * Wholesale channel (unaffiliated broker/dealers, registered investment advisors and retirement platforms); and the * Institutional channel (pension plans, defined benefit plans and endowments).

History

The company traces its history to September 3, 1937, when it was founded by Chauncey Waddell and Cameron Reed. The company was one of the first to sell funds following the

Investment Company Act of 1940 The Investment Company Act of 1940 (commonly referred to as the '40 Act) is an act of Congress which regulates investment funds. It was passed as a United States Public Law () on August 22, 1940, and is codified at . Along with the Securities Exc ...

. Two of its funds—United Income Fund and United Accumulative Fund—were among the first

mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV i ...

s in the United States. Its first offices were in

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s. Continental Investment Corporation of Boston bought Waddell & Reed for $82.5 million in 1969. Liberty National Insurance Holding Company, later renamed

Torchmark Corporation Globe Life is a financial services holding company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (GL) which operates through its wholly owned subsidiaries providing life insurance, annuity, and supplemental health insurance products. The company is base ...

acquired it for $160 million in 1981. Torchmark spun it off in 1998 in a deal where for 10 Torchmark shares held, Torchmark shareholders received 3 shares of Waddell & Reed. In the 2000s, the company was put in the spotlight due to being a major factor in the 2010 "Flash Crash", when a bug in the companies' algorithm coupled with significant competing high frequency traders combined to create a massive crash in the price of S&P500 E-mini futures. In February 2016, Waddell & Reed announced the purchase of at least 8.2% of the Spanish company Abengoa, which was in serious financial trouble. In 2021, the company was purchased by the asset management division of

Macquarie Group Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia' ...

, becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary in the process. Waddell & Reed's wealth management business was acquired by

LPL Financial LPL Financial Holdings, Inc. (commonly referred to as LPL Financial) was founded in 1989 and is considered the largest independent broker-dealer in the United States. As of 2021 the company had more than 17,500 financial advisors, over US$1 trill ...

in April 2021.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Waddell and Reed American companies established in 1937 Financial services companies established in 1937 Investment management companies of the United States Companies based in Overland Park, Kansas Corporate spin-offs 2021 mergers and acquisitions