Affiliated Managers Group Could See Bright Bullish Future

A recent Barrons

discussed how Interest rates are near their "skimpiest" ever right now which leaves private and public pension plans no choice but to re-invest or invest more heavily in the market right now. This bodes well for Affiliated Managers Group,

which has over $250 million in Assets Under Management and invests in a slew of boutique investment management firms. It has been two years since the beginning of the financial crisis and AMG is bouncing back with investments continuing to flourish and attract institutional assets, especially from outside the U.S, including emerging markets. Barron's says that global equity and alternative products account for 65% of AMG's earnings. Chief Executive Sean Healey told investors, ""we continue to believe that this reallocation is inevitable." Barron's states that AMG shares still don't reflect their full potential: The asset-manager is on track to post a gain of 35% in its 2010 earnings from the year earlier, but the shares, at $86.51, trade at just 15 times this year's estimated earnings of $5.92 a share. "They can grow much faster than the market," says Quoc Tran, of Lateef Investment Management, AMG's third-largest institutional shareholder, who puts a conservative price target of $104 a share on AMG. Estimates for AMG are currently being revised as it plans on buying a majority stake in Trilogy Global Advisors which has $12 billion AUM main in an institutional base. Trilogy is only the latest in a string of AMG transactions so far this year, and it likely won't be the last. CEO Healey has said the firm has a "strong pipeline of new investment prospects" and sees "accelerating new investment opportunities." As for AMG's outlook, Barrons says it could plan on looking toward wealth management as Healey sees "great opportunity" there. AMG is trading higher at $85.21