Symmetry Partners continues wholesale-team buildup

FWR Staff

20 August 2007

Conn.-based investment manager hires its third wholesaler in about a year. Asset manager Symmetry Partners is continuing its wholesale push to investment advisors with the appointment of former New York Life Investment Management salesman Michael Storer as its regional director for the northeastern U.S.

"Through Michael's efforts, we look forward to strengthening the relationships we currently have established in this region, while simultaneously building new partnerships for the future," says Patrick Sweeny, principal of Symmetry Partners. "We feel that Michael's experience will benefit the advisors we serve in that region while helping us to grow as a firm."

Somewhat predictable

Storer, who was a wholesaler for New York Life's Mainstay Funds prior to joining Glastonbury, Conn.-based Symmetry, says his new employer has an appealing story for advisors serving affluent baby boomers.

As "boomers move closer to retirement they want a seamless, transparent and somewhat predictable investment experience as they continue to accumulate assets -- and also as they prepare for the distribution phase of their lives," according to Storer. ""Symmetry provides that investment experience and more importantly backs it with more than 50 years of academic and Nobel-prize winning research."

Storer's hire is the third wholesaling appointment Symmetry has made in the last nine months. In June the firm made former Legg Mason wholesaler Peter Sullivan director its business in the western U.S. In November 2006 it hired ex-Protective Life wholesaler Michael Rogers sell its investment products to wealth managers in the South and Midwest.

Symmentry's portfolios are meant to appeal to conservative investors who want to minimize volatility, keep costs down and manage the tax consequences of their holdings. The asset manager tempers market uncertainty, "through broad global diversification," according to a blurb on its website.

As of 30 June 2007, Symmetry managed or sub-advised on over $4.5 billion in assets, mainly for individual investors. -FWR