Boston investment and wealth manager Eaton Vance has acquired the Boston- and New York-based provider of family office services Pelican Investment Management. Pelican principals Anthony Pell, David Callard, John Paolella and their team will join the Eaton Vance Investment Counsel subsidiary. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Pelican was co-founded in 2001 by Pell and Callard and had approximately $500 million of client assets under advisement.

Eaton Vance Investment Counsel has been around since 1924 and managed approximately $4.0 billion of assets as of 31 December 2010.

Before founding Pelican, Pell was president of the investment advisory firm Pell, Rudman & Co and senior vice president of Boston Company Financial Strategies. He was formerly a practising attorney, specializing in estate and tax planning.

David Callard was formerly president of Wand Partners, a buyout firm focused on specialty financial services, and a general partner and managing director of Alex Brown & Sons. He was also previously chairman of Hotel Investors Corporation and a vice president of Morgan Guaranty Trust.

John Paolella became a principal of Pelican in 2004. He was formerly with the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell and the Asset Management Group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where he founded DLJ's New York trust company.

All three attended Princeton University.

Eaton Vance and its affiliates managed $191.7 billion in client assets as of 31 January 2011, offering individuals and institutions a broad array of investment strategies and wealth management services.