Hotchkis and Wiley, the Los Angeles-based asset manager that split off from Merrill Lynch's Mercury Funds earlier this year, said that it has hired one of Mercury Funds' sales managers.
Bob Dochterman, who served as the sales manager for Mercury's Western division, was named national sales director for Hotchkis and Wiley. In his new role, Dochterman will be responsible for building the firm's intermediary distribution network. As part of that effort, Dochterman will be adding at least two external wholesalers and one or two internal support staff, he said.
Dochterman said his experience with Mercury will be valuable in building the distribution infrastructure at Hotchkis and Wiley, but said that there are a number of differences between the two firms. "We're a value, niche player that's privately owned [and] big in institutional sales," he said. "We will be much more focused in our approach [than] Merrill."
Currently, Hotchkis and Wiley has $4 billion in primarily institutional assets, the company said.
Hotchkis and Wiley was purchased by Merrill in 1996, then sold its domestic equity business back to Hotchkis and Wiley's management in July for an undisclosed sum.
