Mellon Unit Hires 2 from Unionbancal to Run Top Fund

Founders Asset Management, Denver, a unit of Mellon Bank Corp., has tapped two fund managers from Unionbancal Corp.'s HighMark Capital Management unit to run its flagship portfolio.

Thomas M. Arrington and Scott A. Chapman will join the $6.8 billion- asset management firm as vice presidents and co-portfolio managers of the $2.1 billion Founders Growth Fund next month, a company spokeswoman said.

They will succeed Edward F. Keely, who left Founders in August to take a job at its Denver rival Janus Funds. Mr. Keely's resignation announcement coincided with that of Jonathan F. Zeschin, Founders' president and chief executive officer; the announcements came shortly after Mellon bought Founders for $275 million in April.

Founders is still conducting a search for Mr. Zeschin's successor, the spokeswoman said.

"We've been aggressively talking to people, but we're still in the process of looking for a candidate," she said.

Both Mr. Chapman and Mr. Arrington had been at Unionbancal since the early 1990s.

Most recently, Mr. Chapman was vice president and director of growth strategy and Mr. Arrington was a vice president and director of income equity strategy. Mr. Arrington also managed the HighMark Income Equity Fund, a $500 million large-cap portfolio, and the $100 million HighMark Blue Chip Growth Fund.

HighMark manages $8 billion in its mutual fund complex. Unionbancal, based in San Francisco, is mostly owned by Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

Clark Gates, president of HighMark Capital Management, said Tuesday that it was too soon to say whether a new team would be promoted from within or an external search would be made. "We'll know in the next day or so," he said.

The departures of Mr. Arrington and Mr. Chapman do not reflect any organizational changes at HighMark, said Mr. Gates.

"They had a great opportunity to co-manage the Founders Growth Fund," he said.

Paul La Rocco, who has been interim manager for the Founders Growth Fund since Mr. Keely left, will continue to manage it until the new team arrives in Colorado, the Founders spokeswoman said. Mr. La Rocco also manages the Founders Special Fund, an equity midcap portfolio.

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