United Asset Management

Provident to Remain in Pasadena: Provident Investment Counsel, a $14.5-billion money management firm, said it foresees no changes in its 107-person staff or operations despite the sale of the business to United Asset Management of Boston. Provident, a 43-year-old institutional investor, said its five senior partners decided to sell their stakes to UAM partly for estate tax reasons. Provident's chairman, Robert Kommerstad, is 67. The firm is one of the nation's biggest growth-stock investors.

Shares of major U.S. mutual fund companies got a boost Monday after another of their peers agreed to a takeover by a foreign firm. United Asset Management (ticker symbol: UAM) of Boston soared $3.17, or 15%, to $23.73 after London-based Old Mutual agreed to pay $1.46 billion in cash, or $25 a share. Among other fund firms that have been viewed as potential takeover candidates, T. Rowe Price Associates (TROW) rocketed $5.63 to $48, Alliance Capital (AC) gained $1.94 to $50.

Dennis Rodman's money manager is thinking about joining a new lineup. Palley Needelman Asset Management Inc., the Newport Beach money management firm that handles the Chicago Bulls star's fortune, reportedly is being pursued by Boston-based United Asset Management. If a deal is struck, United Asset is expected to pay $60 million to $80 million for Palley Needelman, says one person familiar with the talks. A United Asset spokesman declined to comment on any talks between the firms.

United Asset Management Corp. said Monday that it is in talks to sell its Pilgrim Baxter & Associates Ltd. fund management unit to Nationwide Financial Services Inc. Boston-based UAM is seeking as much as $600 million for Pilgrim Baxter and no agreement has been reached yet with Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide, said people familiar with the talks. Pilgrim Baxter executives want to own a stake in the firm if a sale occurs, they said.

United Asset Management Corp. said Monday that it is in talks to sell its Pilgrim Baxter & Associates Ltd. fund management unit to Nationwide Financial Services Inc. Boston-based UAM is seeking as much as $600 million for Pilgrim Baxter and no agreement has been reached yet with Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide, said people familiar with the talks. Pilgrim Baxter executives want to own a stake in the firm if a sale occurs, they said.

Beverly Hills-based Pacific Financial Research, a $4.2-billion-asset money manager best known for its Clipper stock mutual fund, agreed to be bought by United Asset Management Corp. of Boston. Pacific Financial, led by veteran investor James Gipson, becomes the 48th investment firm in UAM's growing stable. Its firms, which operate mostly autonomously, manage a total of $175 billion in private money and mutual funds.

Shares of major U.S. mutual fund companies got a boost Monday after another of their peers agreed to a takeover by a foreign firm. United Asset Management (ticker symbol: UAM) of Boston soared $3.17, or 15%, to $23.73 after London-based Old Mutual agreed to pay $1.46 billion in cash, or $25 a share. Among other fund firms that have been viewed as potential takeover candidates, T. Rowe Price Associates (TROW) rocketed $5.63 to $48, Alliance Capital (AC) gained $1.94 to $50.

John Nuveen Co., one of the largest U.S. managers of municipal bond funds, agreed to buy Los Angeles-based NWQ Investment Management for $140 million in cash to bolster its business with institutions and wealthy clients. Chicago-based Nuveen is acquiring NWQ, which specializes in stock investing, from Old Mutual. London-based Old Mutual has been selling U.S. fund businesses purchased almost two years ago from United Asset Management Corp. of Boston.

Investors have been pounding shares of mutual fund giant Franklin Resources lately. The stock has slumped from $50.13 on July 17 to $43.06 as of Wednesday, and it's 26% below its 1998 peak of $57.88 set in April. That's a much deeper dive than most fund management shares have experienced. T. Rowe Price Associates shares are down 14% from their 52-week high; United Asset Management shares are off just 10% from their peak.

* Source Capital Inc., a Los Angeles-based closed-end investment firm, has elected Eric Ende president and director of the company, which is a subsidiary of United Asset Management Corp. Ende also serves as the firm's chief investment officer. * LeeAnne Stables has been named senior vice president of marketing for GameWorks, the retail and entertainment venture formed by DreamWorks SKG, Universal Studios and Sega Enterprises. * Intertainer Inc.

Beverly Hills-based Pacific Financial Research, a $4.2-billion-asset money manager best known for its Clipper stock mutual fund, agreed to be bought by United Asset Management Corp. of Boston. Pacific Financial, led by veteran investor James Gipson, becomes the 48th investment firm in UAM's growing stable. Its firms, which operate mostly autonomously, manage a total of $175 billion in private money and mutual funds.

Dennis Rodman's money manager is thinking about joining a new lineup. Palley Needelman Asset Management Inc., the Newport Beach money management firm that handles the Chicago Bulls star's fortune, reportedly is being pursued by Boston-based United Asset Management. If a deal is struck, United Asset is expected to pay $60 million to $80 million for Palley Needelman, says one person familiar with the talks. A United Asset spokesman declined to comment on any talks between the firms.

Provident to Remain in Pasadena: Provident Investment Counsel, a $14.5-billion money management firm, said it foresees no changes in its 107-person staff or operations despite the sale of the business to United Asset Management of Boston. Provident, a 43-year-old institutional investor, said its five senior partners decided to sell their stakes to UAM partly for estate tax reasons. Provident's chairman, Robert Kommerstad, is 67. The firm is one of the nation's biggest growth-stock investors.

Money Manager Michaelis Dies: George H. Michaelis, chief executive of Los Angeles-based First Pacific Advisors and manager of the Source Capital stock fund, died Sunday from injuries suffered in a biking accident Saturday in the Santa Monica Mountains. Michaelis, who was 59, enjoyed a national reputation as one of the Southland's savviest money managers and was profiled in the 1989 book "The New Money Masters" alongside peers such as Peter Lynch and George Soros.

Pimco Equity Advisors, the stock mutual fund unit of Pimco Advisors Holdings LP of Newport Beach, hired portfolio manager John Schneider from Schneider Capital Management to run a fund with about $645 million in assets. Schneider, 34, will join New York-based Pimco Equity on May 10 to manage the Pimco Renaissance Fund. He is now working at Wayne, Pa.-based Schneider Capital, which was formed in 1996 by his brother, Arnold Schneider, a former partner at Wellington Management Co.