Knight Capital Group, Inc. is getting into the asset management business. The Jersey City, New Jersey-based electronic trading firm announced that it is buying Astor Asset Management, LLC for about $20 million in cash and stock, according to a July 26 announcement.
Knight Capital Group, which said in its news release that it is the "leading source of liquidity in U.S. equities by share volume," is itself publicly traded on the NYSE Euronext exchange under the symbol KCG.
Astor Asset Management, headquartered in Chicago, is an SEC-registered investment advisor with $560 million in assets under management in the Astor Long/Short ETF Mutual Fund, and in ETFS in separate accounts. The firm uses "proprietary macroeconomic models" in its investment process and seeks "capital appreciation while managing risk in diverse market conditions" for its investors. Astor was founded in 2001 by Managing Partner Robert N. Stein, who has a four-year contract under the deal, which is scheduled to close in the fourth quarter, according to the firms' statement.
