Allspring

Allspring Global Investments has made positive strides since its 2021 ownership change but maintains an Average Parent rating amid its ongoing transitions.

Formerly Wells Fargo Asset Management, the Allspring moniker is a late-2021 rebrand after the private equity shops GTCR and Reverence Capital acquired majority ownership of the asset manager from Wells Fargo and Company WFC. While Wells Fargo still retains about a 10% ownership stake and Allspring employees about 20%, GTCR and Reverence Capital have ultimate control here.

That control has thus far corresponded with renewed direction at Allspring. After Kate Burke succeeded Joe Sullivan as CEO in July 2025, the firm has, for example, continued to prioritize its taxable fixed-income platform, which boasts long-tenured managers and proven credit research capabilities, while winding down other efforts that made less sense for the business. As part of a broader effort to consolidate its municipal fixed-income team in Milwaukee, Allspring closed its San Francisco municipal operation, a transition that led to the departure of several experienced investment professionals, including portfolio managers, as well as an analyst and a trader. The firm also shuttered its alternative equity team in 2025. Allspring has avoided expanding into private market opportunities, concentrating instead on public markets, where it has a competitive track record. These moves to focus and scale the firm’s core investment capabilities also show in ongoing investments in its nascent exchange-traded fund franchise and non-US distribution efforts.

Separately, Allspring’s partnership with GTCR and Reverence Capital has given the firm resources to strengthen its business. That support has helped Allspring attract experienced industry talent, streamline its operating model, and simplify its infrastructure, including moving from several legacy platforms to more centralized Bloomberg-based systems and enhancing the tools that support portfolio analytics. Together, those changes suggest the firm is on firmer footing operationally and organizationally than it was in earlier stages of its transition. Still, though, the private equity control adds an element of uncertainty regarding the firm’s ownership over the coming decades.

Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, Allspring (Branding Name ID: BN00000N6D), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.