Head of Bisys Services for Bank-Run Funds Quitting

Bisys Group Inc., the leading administrator of bank-managed mutual funds, is losing a top executive in charge of enlisting new clients.

Gary N. Kocher, the executive vice president for business development in its fund services division, confirmed he is planning to leave Bisys. He has not set a departure date.

David Huber, president of the division, is expected to take over Mr. Kocher's duties, a company spokesman said. The unit handles record keeping, accounting, and other technology-intensive tasks for bank mutual funds.

Bisys, based in Little Falls, N.J., is a technology company that serves the financial services industry. The fund services division is based in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Kocher, 50, said he decided to leave so he could move to Hilton Head, S.C., where his family has vacationed for more than a decade.

"We started building a house there four years ago, and it's become a second home for our kids," he said. By moving there, he said, he will fulfill a longtime promise to his wife, Sylvia, to return to the East Coast; she grew up in Annapolis, Md., "near the beach."

Another reason for the move is so one of his sons, 14-year-old Nilsson, can train at the Ven Dermeer Tennis Center, a famous tennis clinic on the island. The hot-shot young player is already being recruited by college tennis teams, his father said.

Mr. Kocher was raised in Cincinnati. He joined Bisys in March 1995, when it acquired his previous employer, Concord Holding Corp.

He came to Concord in 1994 from Star Bank Corp., Cincinnati, where he had been an executive vice president overseeing the consumer banking department since 1991. He also was responsible for the retail distribution of mutual funds.

A 20-year veteran of the banking industry, Mr. Kocher has also worked for other banks, including Central Bancorp., Cincinnati, where he was president and chief executive from 1988 to 1990.

He said he's uncertain about his future but doubts retirement is close at hand.

"I still think I've got a few more years in me," he said. "I'm competitive by nature. I love doing deals."

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