The global investment company that acquired USAA’s asset management company last year celebrated the opening of its offices just up the road from USAA headquarters Tuesday.
Victory Capital Holdings relocated its corporate headquarters from Cleveland, Ohio, to the WestRidge at La Cantera complex after the company closed on the $850 million deal in July.
“We chose to move our headquarters to San Antonio because we believe that this city will play an important role in the long-term growth of our organization,” said Victory Capital CEO David Brown. “San Antonio offers us the opportunity to further develop the technology and operational platforms that support our business … We believe that San Antonio offers employees the opportunity to live in a culturally rich city with a competitive cost of living.
“And the weather’s not too bad.”
Brown also said he is impressed with Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s effort to make San Antonio healthier and more active and, before cutting the ceremonial ribbon, invited the mayor to remove his jacket and join him for 50 push-ups in front of the crowd gathered for the event.
Victory Capital subleases from USAA the two floors it occupies in the four-story Class A office building developed by USAA Real Estate Company. USAA also occupies the fourth floor.
Newly named USAA CEO Wayne Peacock was said to have been directly involved in the finish-out of the offices, where he previously led the company’s property and casualty division.
Victory Capital has maintained the brightly lit, modern, and collaborative floorplan designs prevalent at other USAA offices, with open workstations and conference rooms with military themes.
The deal to acquire USAA’s investing division, first announced in November 2018, was finalized July 1, 2019. Between the second and third quarters of last year, the company reported an increase in total assets under management of $82 billion. Victory Capital currently has $152 billion in assets under management.
In an interview with the Rivard Report following Tuesday’s opening event, Brown said the decision to relocate Victory’s headquarters began before talks with USAA got underway. But San Antonio was not one of the cities being considered until Victory began to learn more about what San Antonio had to offer in terms of a future workforce, he said.
But the proximity to USAA has made transferring the asset management business that much easier, Brown added, and the two companies plan to work together on community service efforts, including a campaign to promote financial literacy and readiness.
Victory Capital employs 150 Victory employees in San Antonio and another 50 contract workers. Its total workforce numbers 400 in locations in nine other U.S. cities, as well as in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Its operating partner, FIS, employs another 100, also in the WestRidge building.
In his remarks at the event, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said that his early conversations with Brown were interesting because the CEO was not focused on the low cost of living in San Antonio.
“It wasn’t low cost, it wasn’t the typical things you might hear about a paper investment. It was about our people,” Nirenberg said. “It was about our talent.”
To secure the relocation, the City approved a $500,000 economic incentive package for which Victory agreed to bring six of its executives to San Antonio, retain 300 existing jobs and create 51 more over a five-year period. Victory also will partner with the City on internships and financial literacy programs, and invest at least $500,000 in real estate property.
