Neuberger Berman announced Tuesday an agreement to acquire from McKinsey & Co. the in-house investment and wealth manager for McKinsey employees. MIO Partners, which manages $26 billion in assets for partners, employees and alumni of the consultancy, will be acquired by Neuberger by the end of the year, pending regulatory approval.
As part of the deal, Neuberger will onboard MIO investment staff that oversee some $20 billion in alternative investments, as well as an advisory business for McKinsey partners.
“For more than 25 years, MIO has delivered distinctive services to McKinsey’s partners, colleagues, and alumni,” said Bob Sternfels, McKinsey’s global managing partner, in a statement. “McKinsey set out to find a long-term partner that could build on what makes MIO great.”
The in-house asset manager has faced significant controversy over potential conflicts of interest between the investments being made by MIO Partners and the work the consultancy does for its clients.
In 2021, McKinsey was fined $18 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that the firm had inadequate controls to prevent material nonpublic information obtained from clients from being misused by MIO Partners investment staff. A notice from the SEC stated that MIO Partners had invested hundreds of millions of dollars into companies McKinsey was advising.
The SEC alleged that some McKinsey partners who oversaw MIO’s investment decisionmaking routinely had access to confidential client material because of their consulting work. MIO agreed to pay the penalty without admitting or denying the SECs findings.
“Allowing individuals who may possess or have access to material nonpublic information also to have oversight over investment decisions that may benefit them economically presents a heightened risk of misuse,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, then director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, in a 2021 statement. “It is crucial that investment advisers have robust compliance policies and procedures in place to address the risks inherent to their organizational structures.”
The sale concludes a strategic review of MIO Partners that McKinsey began in 2025, prompted by “MIO’s significant growth and expansion over the last 25 years,” according to a statement.
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Tags: McKinsey & Co., Neuberger Berman