AMG to Buy Assets of Fremont Investment

Affiliated Managers Group Inc. agreed to acquire $3 billion in assets under management from Fremont Investment Advisors Inc., a San Francisco company under investigation for improper mutual fund trading.

AMG would get more than half of Fremont’s $5.4 billion in assets under management. The deal includes 13 Fremont mutual funds, including the $807-million Fremont Bond Fund managed by Bill Gross, who also runs the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach.

AMG, based in Beverly, Mass., didn’t disclose terms of the transaction. Shares of AMG fell 14 cents to $47.10 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has twice told Fremont that its staff recommended civil action against the company for allegedly having improper trading arrangements with certain investors.

Fremont, which has been looking for a buyer for its mutual fund business since January 2003, has said it is cooperating with the probe.

AMG owns a number of money-management companies, including Third Avenue Management in New York, First Quadrant in Pasadena and Friess Associates in Greenville, Del.