Amalgamated Bank of New York is picking up business at its recently acquired trust company.
Amalgamated Trust Co. of Los Angeles, which has been 80% owned by the bank since April, is adding three trade unions as clients this month.
They are the first new clients for the former First Trade Union Trust Co.-which focuses exclusively on benefit plans for unions-since Amalgamated Bank bought it.
Sales fell and some clients left as negotiations for control of the trust company took nearly a year, said Daniel J. Wroblewski, president of Amalgamated Trust. The former owner, Carpenters Combined Benefits Funds of Massachusetts, retained a 20% stake.
Two new clients assigned a combined $500 million of custody assets to Amalgamated. They are Stationary Engineers Local 39 and the Office and Professional Employees International Union, both of Oakland, Calif. The third client - Las Vegas-based Nevada Hotel Employees, Restaurant Employees - will invest $100 million in an equity index fund.
Between the trust company and the bank, Amalgamated has $14 billion of assets under custody and manages $4 billion.
Mr. Wroblewski credited the new ownership with reviving the trust company's sales effort. "Now we're on track. We seem to be very well perceived by our market segment."