Bluerock invests in Townsend for private wealth expansion as Aon sells firm

Plans have been announced for a strategic partnership that will enhance the U.S. private wealth distribution channel of real assets investment firm The Townsend Group which advises clients with $218 billion in assets.

The firm, which has offices in New York, San Francisco, London, and Hong Kong, has been part of Aon since 2018 but is being acquired by an investor group led by The Riverside Company and including MLC Private Equity, Ten Capital Management, and alternative asset manager Bluerock Real Estate.

As part of the investment, Bluerock and Townsend will work together to boost the private wealth distribution channel of Townsend, which offers global real estate and real asset investment advisory services and complementary investment management solutions.

Bluerock is already well established in the private wealth channel with an experience team and retail platform that will help connect Townsend with high-net-worth investors, expanding its reach from its institutional investor core.

"Townsend's long-standing leadership in the institutional real assets space is a natural fit with Bluerock's pioneering role in delivering institutional-quality alternative investments to individual investors over the last 22 years," said Ramin Kamfar, Bluerock's CEO. "We believe that our partnership with Townsend, a preeminent real estate adviser in the institutional world, will deepen our collective intellectual capital base and allow us to develop innovative new investment solutions that will serve the growing needs of retail investors."

Anthony Frammartino, Townsend president, will be named chairman and CEO upon the closing of the transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

AON SALE

The agreement between The Riverside Company and Aon was announced earlier this week.

Following the close of the transaction, which is subject to final regulatory approvals, Aon will maintain a team dedicated to serving its clients’ real estate investment programs, while collaborating with specialists like Townsend to support specific client needs.

“We are grateful for the many contributions of this exceptional team, and we know they have a positive future in partnership with Riverside,” said Eric Andersen, president of Aon. “We remain committed to helping employers, fiduciaries and investment officers across a broad spectrum of client need from investment consulting to delegated solutions, while we focus on further serving our clients through our leading Risk Capital and Human Capital capabilities.”