After his most likely successor departed the company, SEI Investments Chairman and CEO Alfred West — a Paoli resident and one of the world’s richest people, according to Forbes — has acknowledged the Oaks-based company is searching for his replacement. Jeff Blumenthal linked into the story for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

“We’re looking for a strong CEO,” West said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

Before he left in December, Steve Meyer, the head of SEI’s global wealth management services and a nearly-30-year veteran of the company, was viewed as future CEO.

West has been SEI’s only CEO since its 1968 founding. He grew it into a publicly-traded fintech firm with $1.9 billion in annual revenue and $547 million in annual profit — as well as over $1 trillion in assets under administration or management in 2021.

Christopher Donat, analyst at Piper Sandler, believes the new CEO will likely represent new blood.

“Based on Mr. West’s comments on the earnings call, we think that the most likely scenario is that SEI hires an outside CEO,” said Sandler. “While we think that an internal hire is possible, we believe the financial performance of SEI’s segments reduces the likelihood of an internal hire.”

Read more about SEI in the Philadelphia Business Journal.