The latest wealth management merger and acquisition transactions in North America.

Charles Schwab has agreed to buy the technology and intellectual property of US fintech business Motif, in an all-cash deal. Motif uses technology and data science to deliver customized thematic portfolios to investors. 

The acquisition will include all of Motif’s technology and intellectual property, including algorithms, patents and source codes, Charles Schwab said in a statement last week. The financial price of the transaction wasn’t disclosed. 

Charles Schwab will hire a majority of Motif’s development and investment talent. Founder and chief executive Hardeep Walia will join Charles Schwab. 

“We intend to leverage Motif’s platform to build on Schwab’s existing capabilities and help accelerate our development of thematic and direct indexing solutions for Schwab’s retail investors and RIA clients – all with the sophisticated digital experience our clients expect from Schwab,” Neesha Hathi, chief digital officer at Charles Schwab, said. “We continue to see an increasing number of clients interested in customizing their investing experience to suit their values, objectives and personal circumstances.” 

Motif’s broker-dealer, RIA, client accounts and client assets are not included in the acquisition. Motif recently announced the sale of its client accounts to Folio Investments. The transaction is expected to close by the middle of 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. 

In February this year Charles Schwab agreed to buy fixed income management firm Wasmer, Schroeder & Company for cash. The acquired business oversaw $10.5 billion in assets under management as at the end of 2019.  This agreement follows last year’s move to buy TD Ameritrade in a $26 billion transaction, a deal that showed intense competition in the discount brokerage space.