Wilshire acquired by Marsh

Marsh agreed on 10 November 2026 to acquire Wilshire, with completion expected during the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and to the consent of clients. Chief executive Jason Schwarz and the firm’s employees in the United States, Europe and Asia were to join the acquiring group. Founded in 1972 as a provider of indices and risk analytics, Wilshire advises institutional investors and financial intermediaries on the construction and management of their portfolios, selecting asset managers on their behalf and taking discretionary responsibility for certain mandates. It also publishes market indices and supplies the data and analytical tools through which clients measure performance and risk. It advised on 1.6 trillion dollars of assets and managed 221 billion at 30 June 2026. Client consent conditions transactions of this kind, since an investment adviser’s agreements generally terminate on a change of control and must be renewed individually, which means the assets under advice can fall between signature and completion. Marsh already advises pension funds and other institutions through its own investments business, and the purchase extends that activity towards the advisers managing private wealth, a segment it had not served, while adding capability in alternative assets, model portfolios and analytics. Wealth advisers increasingly allocate client portfolios to private equity, credit and infrastructure, which requires manager selection and monitoring beyond what most such firms maintain, and a provider supplying both the research and the ready-made portfolios addresses that gap.