Eaton Vance Corp. is an American

investment management Investment management (sometimes referred to more generally as financial asset management) is the professional asset management of various Security (finance), securities, including shareholdings, Bond (finance), bonds, and other assets, such as r ...

firm based in

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. It is one of the oldest investment companies in the United States, with a history dating back to 1924. Through five primary investment affiliates, Eaton Vance provides investment products to individuals, institutions and financial professionals in the US, including wealth management, defined contribution investment only and sub-advisory services. In 2005 it opened an office in London. In March 2021,

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees, the firm's clients in ...

completed its acquisition of Eaton Vance, a deal announced in October 2020. With the addition of Eaton Vance, Morgan Stanley now had $5.4 trillion of client assets across its

Wealth Management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-hi ...

and Investment Management segments.

History

The history of Eaton Vance dates from 1924, when Charles F. Eaton Jr., formed Eaton & Howard Inc., a

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

-based investment firm. In 1931, he became the president and director of the company. During its course of existence, the company formed several funds, including the Growth Fund in 1962; it invested primarily in common stocks of companies that enjoyed aggressive growth. In 1979, the firm was bought by Vance Sanders & Company and became Eaton & Howard, Vance Sanders Inc. Two years later, on February 20, 1981, Eaton Vance Corporation was established as a holding company. By the end of 1983, Eaton Vance was managing 23 mutual funds and numerous individual and company accounts, with over $2.3 billion in their accounts. The company's major products were 34 low-risk and tax-free funds by late 1989. The next year, Eaton Vance started promoting its funds via banks, which resulted in a sales profit of $450 million. As of 1993, over 60 banks in the United States were offering the company's funds. By the end of the year, the firm had management assets worth $12 billion. After restructuring its funds to a "hub-and-spoke" model, in 1995, Eaton Vance started offering new specialty funds through banks. The new funds were set to invest in companies working in entertainment, telecommunications, and PC industries. Despite the restructuring not showing up to be fruitful, by 1997, the company was managing $14.7 billion in assets, most of them coming from overseas including

Greater China In ethnogeography, "Greater China" is a loosely-defined term that refers to the region sharing cultural and economic ties with the Chinese people, often used by international enterprises or organisations in unofficial usage. The notion contains ...

, Greater India, and some emerging markets. In 2001, Eaton Vance acquired Atlanta Capital Management and Fox Asset Management. The company increased its assets under management by 17%, to $54.6 billion. In 2007, Thomas E. Faust Jr became the CEO and Chairman of the company, replacing James B. Hawkes. By September 2007, the firm owned $158.1 billion in

assets under management In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...

. In 2012, Easton Vance purchased 49% of Hexavest Inc, a Canadian investment management firm. In 2017, Eaton Vance purchased Calvert Investments, which provides mutual funds focused on

socially responsible investing Socially responsible investing (SRI) is any investment strategy which seeks to consider financial return alongside ethical, social or environmental goals. The areas of concern recognized by SRI practitioners are often linked to environmental, ...

. On October 8, 2020,

announced they were purchasing Eaton Vance for $7 billion. The deal was completed on March 1, 2021.

Business model and management

The company focuses on investment management but not

wealth management Wealth management (WM) or wealth management advisory (WMA) is an investment advisory service that provides financial management and wealth advisory services to a wide array of clients ranging from affluent to high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-hi ...

, in that it focuses on

investment funds An investment fund is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These advantages inc ...

rather than financial planning or brokerage services. Therefore, it does not control distribution and financial advisors or retail investors must choose their funds. It is focused on active management rather than passive. , Tom Faust is the Chairman and CEO of the company, a position he took in 2007.

Affiliates

* Eaton Vance Management, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. * Parametric Portfolio Associates, headquartered in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, with offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

, and

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

. * Atlanta Capital * Hexavest, headquartered in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. * Calvert Research and Management

References

External links

* {{authority control Financial services companies established in 1924 Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies based in Boston Investment management companies of the United States 1924 establishments in Massachusetts American companies established in 1924 2021 mergers and acquisitions American corporate subsidiaries Morgan Stanley Asset management companies