Riggs National Corp. has hired James R. Eads, the former head of Signet Banking Corp.'s brokerage, and other former Signet executives, to bolster sales of Riggs' proprietary mutual funds and possibly find a mutual fund company to acquire.
Mr. Eads, 42, joined Riggs Jan. 1 as a managing director of Riggs & Co., a unit that markets Riggs' mutual funds.
In addition to developing and marketing proprietary products, including mutual funds, variable annuities, and asset allocation products, Mr. Eads will look for mutual fund companies to buy, said Henry Dudley, senior executive director of Riggs & Co.
"He has been hired to promote these funds and move them into multiple distribution channels such as brokers, financial planners, and others," Mr. Dudley said. "We also want him to look for the potential for acquisitions in the mutual fund area to complement the product we have."
Riggs' funds are distributed exclusively through its bank branches.
Mr. Eads said that since the Washington-based banking company deals with many wealthy clients from around the world, there is lots of potential to increase assets of the proprietary funds through new sales. A five- portfolio family, Riggs Monument Funds are largely made up of converted trust fund assets, he said.
Riggs' Monument Funds had $663 million under management as of Dec. 31, according to data from Lipper Analytical Services, Summit, N.J. That was down from $713 million on Sept. 30, 1997, and from $858 million at yearend 1996.
Mr. Eads said the banking company may try wholesaling the product outside its Middle Atlantic base through intermediaries, including small banks.
Reporting to Mr. Eads are three former Signet employees: William Roberts, who heads distribution and joined Riggs in September; Richard Coltrane, head of operations, who joined in November; and Mark Nachimson, head of analysis and alternative marketing, who joined in December.
Lauren Schwebel, who heads marketing for the funds, had largely been marketing the fund family herself before being joined by Mr. Eads and the other former Signet executives.
Mr. Eads resigned from Signet in May and left it at the end of the summer. He worked at Signet for 10 years, five of them as president of Signet Financial Services. Before that he was chief operating officer of Signet's mutual fund subsidiary, Virtus Capital Management; president of Signet Insurance Services, and head of marketing for institutional trust business.
