Several outsized transactions pushed the aggregate value for U.S. asset manager deals up sharply to $2.92 billion in the third quarter from $177.3 million in the second quarter and $402.1 million a year earlier.

In the largest securities and investments deal announced during the quarter, Invesco Ltd. agreed to acquire the exchange-traded funds business of Guggenheim Capital LLC. The all-cash deal is valued at $1.2 billion and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018. Invesco stands to gain $36.7 billion in assets under management and increase its market share of the global exchange-traded funds business.

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.'s planned acquisition by Genstar Capital Management LLC was the second-largest asset management transaction announced during the quarter. The deal is valued at $720 million.

The aggregate deal value for the broker/dealer space fell to $675.1 million from $2.19 billion in the previous quarter and $3.86 billion in the year ago period. The values in those other periods were aided by transactions with values of more than $1 billion; no such deal announced in the most recently completed quarter.

New York-based Focus Financial Partners LLC continued its buying spree of wealth management firms, and remained the most-acquisitive company in the space, with three acquisitions announced during the quarter. Focus Financial Partners itself changed hands during the quarter in a deal announced in April.

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