French-owned asset manager looks to expand managed account sales to banks. IXIS Asset Management Advisors has made a number of appointments meant to boost managed portfolio distribution to the bank-based trust and high-net-worth advisory channels.

The bank-trust and high-net-worth advisor spaces "represent significant market opportunities for the firm," says Matt Witkos, executive v.p. and head of distribution for IXIS AMA. "Not only have we established a substantial asset base in these areas, but we also see strong growth potential in the future.

Three for the road

With this growth potential in mind, IXIS hired William Butcher away from third-part investment-platform provider FundQuest earlier this summer. Butcher, a 25-year veteran of the bank-trust business, will be in charge of building new bank and high-net-worth advisory relationships for IXIS.

Shari Hands, who joined IXIS earlier in 2006 from IXIS affiliate Loomis Sayles, and former Liberty Funds wholesaler John Olsen, another 2006 hire, will focus on investment advisories, family offices, and private banks. as regional director.

In 2005, IXIS pulled William Cashel over from Wachovia Securities, to spearhead separately managed account (SMA) and mutual fund sales in the southern California territory. He's since been made part of IXIS' bank-trust and high-net-worth specialist push.

IXIS new efforts in the high-net-worth space complement the launch in 2005 of its own overlay-management group to help sponsors manage their clients' multi-manager, multi-sleeve investment portfolios. The French-owned asset manager has also brought out a new line of managed exchange-traded funds with an eye to the growing retirement market.

Boston-based IXIS AMA is part of IXIS Asset Management Group, a unit of Paris-based Groupe Caisse D'Epargne. It managed $564 billion in assets at the end of June 2006. -FWR

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