Mellon Financial Corporation has established a new asset management subsidiary to take care of its non-US business. The new company, with assets under management of $65bn (e69.9bn), is called Mellon Global Investments (MGI) and is headquartered in London, with offices already open in Buenos Aires, Jersey, Hong Kong and Milan. Other offices will soon open in Madrid and Germany.

"This is the right time to be expanding into Continental Europe. Investors are looking for new names, new funds and new products," says Volker Grueneke, who will head the sales and distribution activities of MGI in Germany and Scandinavia. He previously worked in sales and marketing for alternative investments at Liberty Ermitage.

MGI will offer a range of investment products, including a new set of Dublin funds, which are awaiting regulatory approval, and the investment products of the Newton group in the UK. These include a series of equity and bond based funds spread over the Pan-European, Asian and US markets as well as an international growth fund.

MGI focuses in particular on the global distribution of the investment skills and products of Mellon’s asset management subsidiaries, including specifically the Newton group, in which it took a 75% stake in 1998 and will formally acquire the remaining 25% in 2002. "Newton is basically the platform on which Mellon Global Investments is being built," says media relations manager, Kevin Monks.

Jon Groom, president of MGI says : "We are creating a platform that will provide a balance between the need for global distribution and the need for excellence in investment performance."

The group is targeting clients that will include banks, investment houses, insurance companies, pension funds and professional advisors. Overall, Mellon’s global asset management activities had over $530bn under management last year, making it the world’s 11th largest asset manager.

Topics