F.L.Putnam Acquires $1B Red Granite Team in Wisconsin Expansion

F.L.Putnam Investment Management Co. has acquired the Red Granite investment team from an affiliate of 1251 Capital Group, establishing its first Wisconsin office and expanding its proprietary equity platform.

The six-person Milwaukee team, led by co-chief investment officers Joel D. Vrabel and David J. Drzadinski, oversaw more than $1 billion for private clients as of Aug. 31. The employees will remain at Red Granite’s downtown Milwaukee office.

“The addition of Joel, David and their team establishes our first presence in Wisconsin and our second location in the Midwest, while adding a differentiated large-cap equity strategy to our investment platform,” F.L.Putnam CEO Tom Manning said.

Red Granite’s large-cap growth strategy uses fundamental, bottom-up research to identify companies with durable business models and strong competitive positions. It seeks to outperform the Russell 1000 Growth Index over a full market cycle with lower risk and volatility.

The acquisition extends a rapid expansion for Lynnfield, Massachusetts-based F.L.Putnam, which reported approximately $11 billion in assets before the Red Granite deal. The firm entered the Midwest in April by acquiring Arcadia Investment Management, a Kalamazoo, Michigan-based adviser managing more than $670 million.

F.L.Putnam subsequently acquired Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based Seascape Capital Management, which oversees more than $500 million, in July. Later that month, Bixby Wealth Solutions, a subsidiary of Moontower Group backed by Carlyle’s Global Credit business, made a minority investment to support the firm’s national expansion.

Vrabel said F.L.Putnam’s investment platform would allow Red Granite to build on the strategy and client relationships its team has developed over three decades.

Financial terms of the Red Granite deal were not disclosed.