US - Callan Associates, the North America-based adviser to institutional investors, and Mercer Investment Consulting have called off the planner merger of their investment consulting businesses.

In a statement, Callan Associates confirmed the two companies have ended the agreement announced last month and have instead decided to grow their advisory businesses independently.

"All Callan and Mercer client relationships will continue under their existing respective contractual agreements and consulting teams," read the statement.

Officials at Mercer declined to comment as to why its takeover of Callan has been cancelled.

The deal, announced on February 17 2009, was designed for both parties to be a way of gaining a larger market share within the United States and was due to be completed by the end of Q1 2009. (See earlier IPE story: Mercer buys Callan to create consulting giant)

Jeff Schutes, Mercer's US investment consulting leader, claimed at the time that Callan and Mercer shared similar values, business models and cultures and argued the merger would "significantly improve" Mercer's ability to help clients.

San Francisco-based Callan Associates is a consultant for some of the major US pension funds and institutions, including Illinois Teachers Retirement System, Chicago Public School Teachers' Retirement System and the Massachusetts Pension Reserve Investment Board.

Callan Associates has additional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and New Jersey and has over 500 clients.

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