Beverly Hills Wealth Management buys small money manager

Beverly Hills Wealth Management on Wednesday said that it had acquired McComsey Asset Management LLC, a small money manager with $29 million in assets. Terms were not disclosed. Mark McComsey, founder of McComsey Asset Management, runs six strategies with a focus on equities experiencing upside earnings surprises. The firm will be rechristened BHWM Asset Management, a new unit of BHWM. Clients of the wealth management firm clearly wanted to see BHWM have its own asset management offering, BHWM chief executive Margaret “Mag” Black-Scott said. BHWM advisers will have exclusive access to the McComsey portfolios, but Ms. Black-Scott said BHWM Asset Management might consider subadvising. “We will still have open architecture,” she added. “The in-house asset management has to be able to hold its own versus other managers.” Mr. McComsey and Ms. Black-Scott formerly worked together at Morgan Stanley in Los Angeles. McComsey Asset Management has marketed to institutional investors, but such small, emerging managers have a tough time landing and keeping big investors, Ms. Black-Scott said. The money manager claims compliance with global investment performance standards and will migrate its track records to BHWM Asset Management. The addition of McComsey pushes assets at BHWM over the $500 million mark.