Bank of the West has launched a wealth management center is San Francisco, CA, where a group of professionals from different areas of the bank will work together to deliver integrated services to high net worth and affluent clients.

The new center is part of a wealth management model the bank is pioneering, of opening dedicated centers for its wealthy clientele where they can access a range of services in one place. It has so far opened centers in Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Jose, Palo Alto, CA, and Denver, CO.

The professionals staffing such centers come from the private client advisor, trust, private mortgage banking, business banking, and portfolio management sides of the business. The idea is to promote collaboration between the business lines to create a full-service “solution” for wealthy clients’ needs, said John Bahnken, head of the bank's wealth management group and senior executive vice president.

Last month the firm made a number of hires to its wealth business, bringing in Drew Brahos and Bruce Wetter as market strategist and senior portfolio manager respectively. Both are based in California and joined from Santa Barbara Bank & Trust and HighMark Capital Management respectively. It also hired Scott Anderson, who joined from Wells Fargo, as its chief economist, responsible for providing forecasts across the bank’s business lines and clients.

Bank of the West is part of BNP Paribas’ global wealth management business, which has some $10 billion under management in the US and $322 billion worldwide, as of December 31, 2011. It operates in the West and Midwest.

It offers securities and variable annuities through BancWest Investment Services, a registered broker/dealer, and its financial advisors are registered representatives of BIS.