Merrill Consults Distributes Eaton Affiliate’s Small-Cap, Smid

Atlanta Capital Management, which is majority owned by Eaton Vance, is distributing its high quality small-cap and high quality small-cap extended, or smid, strategy, through Merrill Lynch’s Consults separate account platform.

Atlanta Capital Management, which is majority owned by Eaton Vance, is distributing its high quality small-cap and high quality small-cap extended, or smid, strategy, through Merrill Lynch‘s Consults separate account platform. Larry Sinsimer, managing director at Eaton Vance, said Merrill took the smid strategy--which is a small-to-mid-cap portfolio--in addition to the small-cap investment so it could better manage the limited capacity available when investing in smaller stocks. The small strategy invests in stocks between $200 million and $3 billion, while the smid invests in companies up to $7 billion, giving portfolio managers more leeway as they search for investments.

Eaton Vance acquired Atlanta in 2001, as part of a larger move to enter the managed accounts business. Sinsimer said part of the firm’s overall strategy is to market its smaller cap investments to high-end advisors who do business in both retail SMAs and institutional accounts.