BNY Mellon Wealth Management is planning to double the size of its global sales force, as well as adding a raft of private bankers.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management is planning to increase the size of its global sales force by 50 per cent, as well as adding a raft of private bankers, mortgage bankers, portfolio managers and wealth strategists, in what it described as a “profound commitment” to this market.

Overall, it will add up to 100 people to the wealth management business, bringing its sales force to around 150 and hiring around 10 private and morgtage bankers.  

The announcement is confirmation of a picture that has emerged from the firm in recent years, as it has continued to hire aggressively for its wealth management business, bucking the 2008 global downturn and the intervening years of low growth.

Just this month, for instance, it brought in Debralee Nelson from JP Morgan Chase as a senior director to serve ultra high net worth clients in the New York region, and made four senior hires in Southern California as part of a expansionary plans on the West Coast.

“The campaign represents an important new phase in BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s multi-year growth strategy to continue to build presence and capabilities in the US and globally,” BNY Mellon Wealth Management said.

In its announcement this morning, the firm highlighted that since 2008, it has made acquisitions in Toronto and Chicago and opened offices in Dallas, Washington and the Cayman Islands, as well as adding two offices in Florida. Building on this, it will add sales staff in its current locations and add new offices in “key wealth markets.”

“Building on our expansion efforts of recent years, we intend to establish a powerful presence in the top-tier US wealth markets and continue to make headway in key global markets as well,” said Larry Hughes, chief executive of BNY Mellon Wealth Management.

“The wealth management business is an integral part of BNY Mellon Investment Management. As part of a long-term growth strategy, we are dedicating substantial resources toward strengthening wealth management’s global distribution capabilities and team,” said Curtis Arledge, CEO of BNY Mellon Investment Management.

As of March 31, 2013, BNY Mellon Wealth Management’s total client assets stood at around $188 billion.