Merrill Lynch And IMG To Form McCormack Advisors International LLC
Business Editors
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 25, 2000
Joint Venture to Expand Financial Services for Athletes and
Celebrity High-Net-Worth Individuals
Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) and IMG’s Investment Advisors International (IAI), today announced the formation of a joint venture to deliver personalized financial-management services to athletes and celebrity high-net-worth individuals.
The venture, structured as a limited liability company, will be called McCormack Advisors International LLC. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Based at IMG’s corporate headquarters in Cleveland, McCormack Advisors International will leverage the brand equity and core competencies of both Merrill Lynch and IMG in servicing the unique needs of specialty clients. The newly formed company combines Merrill Lynch’s world-class market intelligence, financial planning and investment resources with IMG, the world’s largest sports management and marketing agency and its highly regarded talent management and representation experience.
McCormack Advisors International will expand upon the existing financial services offering provided to IMG clients by IAI, IMG’s U.S. financial services division, which has more than $1.5 billion in client assets. Through the joint venture, McCormack Advisors International will offer an expanded array of wealth-management strategies and advisory services, including financial planning, tax preparation, cash and investment management, and income collecting.
“There are terrific synergies between our two companies,” said John L. Steffens, vice chairman of Merrill Lynch and chairman of the U.S. Private Client Group. “It’s obvious that, like Merrill Lynch, IMG is committed to finding new ways to serve clients and deepen relationships. I look forward to McCormack Advisors International playing a vital role in helping this unique client base manage the complexities of their financial lives.”
Mark McCormack, chairman and CEO of IMG said: “IAI has been a steady part of our business for years and a model for celebrity financial management in the United States. It was a pioneering service for our clients, rather than an aggressive area, which we marketed like many of our other divisions. Working with Merrill Lynch will allow us to expand our work for existing clients, while using this venture to serve new clients both in the United States and around the world.”
Robert D. Kain, senior executive vice president of IMG, added: “IAI was one of IMG’s first divisions. It served an immediate need for the athletes looking for reliable financial services, and the business has expanded greatly over the years with more and more services to suit the clients’ diversified financial management needs.”
Merrill Lynch executive Rodney I. Woods will hold the position of chairman and CEO of the joint venture. Previously, Mr. Woods was first vice president and a national marketing manager in Merrill Lynch’s sales division; he also held an earlier post as president and CEO of Merrill Lynch Trust Company.
“It’s a pleasure to lead this team and I look forward to the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead – not only for McCormack Advisors International, but especially for our clients,” Mr. Woods said.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies with offices in 43 countries and total client assets of about $1.8 trillion. As an investment bank, it is the top global underwriter and market maker of debt and equity securities and a leading strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world’s largest managers of financial assets. For more information on Merrill Lynch, go to www.ml.com.
IMG, the Mark McCormack Group of Companies, was founded by Mark McCormack in the early 1960s and has an international staff of almost 3,000 in more than 80 offices in 32 countries. The company is the world’s premier sports management and marketing agency. Its Trans World International division is the largest independent distributor of televised sports and annually produces and distributes more than 5,000 hours of original programming in over 240 sports to more than 200 countries. Every day of the year, IMG is commercially involved in an average of nine major sports and cultural events around the world, represents the interests of major corporations, is a literary agency and book packager, manager and presenter of world-renowned classical music artists through its IMG Artists, and its IMG Models is the world’s No.1 international model agency.
IMG’s management and/or financial clients include Pete Sampras, Vince Carter, Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Wimbledon, USTA, Arnold Palmer, David Duval, Karrie Webb, Nancy Lopez, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Tyra Banks, Liv Tyler, Gisele, Evander Holyfield, Jaromir Jagr, Wayne Gretzky, Scott Hamilton, Jeff Gordon, Kristi Yamaguchi, Brett Hull, Joe Montana, John Madden, Bob Costas, NHL, the Nobel Foundation, the GRAMMYS(R), the United States Olympic Committee, the Smithsonian Institution, the WTA TOUR, and the NCAA.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
