BNY Mellon’s Sale of Alcentra Exposes Peril of Losing Key Talent

The effort to sell a once-hot asset manager has become a cautionary tale of how quickly value can be destroyed if a company can’t hold on to its key assets -- namely, its people.

Franklin Templetonbought Alcentra Ltd. for less than a quarter of what a former peer -- Oak Hill Advisors -- was sold for in October. The big difference between Alcentra and competitors is its staffing issues, according to more than a dozen interviews with senior figures at firms who looked into the deal but passed, as well as current and former employees.

The price “is ...