Wilmington Announces Expansion, New Hires
The New York office of Wilmington Trust will expand in response to what the company calls an "increasing demand" for its financial planning and open-architecture investment capabilities in the high-net-worth market.
As a result, Wilmington's wealth advisory wing announced the hiring of two veteran UBS Trust Co. executives, former CEO James P. McCarthy and former Senior Vice President Thomas P. Mitchell. They join Wilmington as senior relationship managers. In addition to those two moves and the recent hiring of Neil Wolfson as chief investment officer, the company expects to hire more new executives as its expansion rolls forward.
"We have enjoyed consistent success in New York since we opened our doors," said Rodney P. Wood, the executive vice president and head of Wilmington's wealth advisory services. He added, "This new expansion represents the latest step in the continued strengthening of our business and will help us to better serve the needs of our growing client base in the area."
Hartford Funds Hires Gavin As Independent Chairman
Dr. Robert M. Gavin Jr., a former college president, has been named the independent chairman of The Hartford Mutual Funds' board of directors, the company announced. Gavin replaces Hartford Life's President and COO Tom Marra in that post.
Gavin has been a member of The Hartford's board since 2002, and before that served for 15 years on the board of Fortis mutual funds, which The Hartford purchased in 2001. Gavin, who served for 12 years as president of Macalaster College, "brings a tremendous amount of experience and dedication to the role of chairman," according to Marra.
In response, Gavin called Marra "an outstanding leader" during his time as chairman, and added that he looks forward to continuing working with the COO, who will stay on the board.
Touchstone Hires Deferro As Internal Sales Manager
Michael Deferro, former vice president of mutual fund sales at Bank of the West subsidiary Eureka Funds, is the new internal sales manager at Touchstone Investments. Prior to his time at Eureka, Deferro worked at, among others, AmSouth Funds. Touchstone President Jim Grifo said Deferro is the latest addition to a "first-rate team."
ICON Advisers Expands Internal Sales Team
Colorado-based ICON Advisers has formed an internal sales desk to facilitate new relationships between brokers and dealers, the company announced. Annie Mathey is manager of the desk.
ICON, the advisor for Ohio National Investments, also increased the number of territories from which it conducts its wholesale business from six to eight. In addition to one representative for each of those territories, the company is employing more administrative staff to help with the desk.
"The internal sales desk is a key component of a distribution strategy, which began in early 2004," said ICON Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Stephen C. Holmes. "We anticipate the efforts of the internal sales will have a measurable impact on ICON's growth."
As of June 30, ICON, which prides itself on what Holmes calls a "non-emotional, disciplined investment system that identifies market leadership," possessed $3 billion in assets under management.
