PanAgora Asset Management

PanAgora Asset Management (PanAgora) is an American investment management firm based in Boston. The firm is noted for its usage of quantitative analysis in its approach to investing.[2][3][4] It is a direct subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco and its ultimate parent is Power Financial.[5]

PanAgora Asset Management, Inc.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryInvestment Management
Founded1989; 35 years ago (1989)
Founders
  • Richard A. Crowell
HeadquartersOne International Place, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Key people
Eric Sorensen (President and CEO)
AUMUS$44 billion (March 31, 2022)
Number of employees
126 (2022)
Parent
Websitewww.panagora.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Background

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PanAgora was founded in 1989 by Richard A. Crowell.[2][3] Crowell is considered to be one of the early pioneers of quantitative investing.[2][3] When the firm was founded, Crowell made sure all of its strategies were quantitative.[2] However, later on the firm also incorporated the use of behavioral economics to perform analysis.[2][6]

PanAgora originally was a 50-50 joint venture between Shearson Lehman Brothers and Nippon Life.[7][8]

In 1997, Putnam Investments acquired 50% of PanAgora from the shareholder now named Lehman Brothers.[7][9][10]

On August 22, 1998, Crowell died from cancer at 57.[8]

PanAgora opened an office in London in 1990 which oversaw around $800 million in assets, mainly for European pension funds.[7][10] However, by 1998, the London office was closed due to lack of profitability.[7][10]

PanAgora and DZ Bank formed a joint venture called DG PanAgora in 1998.[7][10] PanAgora exited the joint venture in 2008 by selling its stake to Union Investment, the investment arm of DZ Bank.[11]

In 2004, Eric Sorensen joined PanAgora from Putnam Investments and is currently the president and CEO of the firm.[12] In the same year, Putnam Investments acquired an additional 30% stake of PanAgora from Ippon Life increasing its holding to 80%.[13] In 2018, Putnam Investments acquired the remaining 20% stake of PanAgora from Nippon Life.[14]

PanAgora was directly owned by Putnam Investments which was owned by Great-West Lifeco and ultimately owned by Power Financial.[5] On May 31, 2023, Great-West Lifeco announced that Franklin Templeton Investments would acquire Putnam Investments for $925 million. PanAgora would not be included in the acquisition and would remain under Great-West Lifeco.[15][16][17]

The term Risk parity was coined by Edward Qian in a paper written in 2004.[4][18] Qian is currently Chief investment officer of Multi Asset Investments at PanAgora.[4][18]

References

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  1. ^ "Form ADV" (PDF). SEC. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "AN OPTIMIST IN THE WILDERNESS". October 18, 2020. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Robert Korajczyk wins Crowell Prize for stock return study - Kellogg School of Management". www.kellogg.northwestern.edu. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Quant Famed for Ray Dalio-Like Trades Has Battle Plan for Stocks". Bloomberg.com. February 27, 2019. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Power Corporation of Canada | Organization Chart". www.powercorporation.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  6. ^ Journal, Bernard Wysocki Jr Staff Reporter of The Wall Street (December 4, 1996). "Panagora Tests New Theory Of Irrational Stock Buying". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e "PANAGORA GIVES UP ON LONDON". Pensions & Investments. December 13, 2006. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "CROWELL LOSES CANCER BATTLE". Pensions & Investments. December 13, 2006. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  9. ^ "PANAGORA'S CLIENTS CHEER PUTNAM LINK". Pensions & Investments. December 13, 2006. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c d Newswires, Sylvia BettermannDow Jones (November 17, 1998). "PanAgora Asset Management To Scale Back Its U.K. Office". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  11. ^ "Putnam unit to exit German fund joint venture". Reuters. December 18, 2008. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  12. ^ Grene, Sophia (October 3, 2010). "Eric Sorensen: chief pilot of quant models". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  13. ^ "Putnam Raises Stake In PanAgora To 80% And Eyes Japanese Institutional Market - Global Custodian". www.globalcustodian.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "Nippon Life to make Nissay Asset Management fully owned unit". www.spglobal.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  15. ^ "Great-West Lifeco announces sale of Putnam Investments to Franklin Templeton". www.newswire.ca. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  16. ^ Masters, Brooke (May 31, 2023). "Franklin Templeton to buy Putnam Investments for more than $1bn". Financial Times. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  17. ^ "Great-West Lifeco announces sale of Putnam Investments to Franklin Templeton". Yahoo Finance. May 31, 2023. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Quant Who Coined Risk Parity Says Wall Street Has It Wrong". Bloomberg.com. September 29, 2016. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
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