F.L.Putnam Lifts Out $1B Midwest Team From F/m Investments

Lynnfield, Massachusetts-based RIA F.L.Putnam Investment Management has nabbed a six-person team overseeing more than $1 billion in client assets, according to an announcement Wednesday. The Milwaukee-based Red Granite team is led by Joel D. Vrabel and David J. Drzadinski, according to the announcement. They joined FLP on Tuesday from F/m Investments, an ETF-focused asset manager affiliated with 1251 Capital Group. Additional terms of the deal were not disclosed. Vrabel and Drzadinski have managed a large-cap growth equity strategy together since 1996, according to the announcement. The duo began working together at Robert W. Baird & Co., where they first registered in 1995 and 2004, respectively, before launching their own RIA in 2006. They remained partners through their RIA’s 2012 sale to Chicago-based Ziegler Capital Management, which was in 2020 acquired by 1251 Capital Group and folded their practice into F/m, according to registration records. The Red Granite team’s exit comes less than two weeks after mutual fund manager T. Rowe Price agreed to acquire F/m Investments in a bid to bolster its fixed income ETF and SMA capabilities. That transaction is slated to close in early 2027. “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,” Tom Manning, F.L.Putnam chief executive, said in a statement. The Red Granite team will continue working from their office in downtown Milwaukee, according to the announcement. The acquisition represents the 12th under Manning, and its first since completing a minority recapitalization in late July. That deal traded out minority investor Emigrant Partners for Bixby Wealth Solutions, an arm of Carlyle-backed Moontower Group. F.L.Putnam managed or advised on $15.6 billion in client assets as of June, according to its website. Its assets under management are around $12 billion including the Red Granite team, according to a spokesperson.