B of A Taps Brown for National Sales Drive

Kathleen Brown, the former California treasurer who joined BankAmerica Corp. in July as a top private banking executive, has been given added responsibilities at the banking company.

Ms. Brown has been named to head up national sales and marketing for the bank's $50 billion investment management group.

The unit comprises the bank's brokerage, proprietary mutual fund management and sales, institutional investment management, and private banking.

In her new role, Ms. Brown, who waged an unsuccessful bid to become governor of California in 1994, has set her client-prospecting sights on institutions across the country.

In a telephone interview, she said she will also be working to make sure that a cohesive sales pitch comes out of all Bank of America branches, some of which may be part of acquisitions made in the past few years.

"My challenge will be to integrate the different siblings in the Bank of America family," Ms. Brown said.

Ms. Brown will report to Alexander M. Anderson, the head of BankAmerica's investment management group.

Her marketing presence in the investment group, however, will not extend to retail brokerage products. That area continues to be run by Debra McGinty-Poteet, the managing director of funds management.

Until now, Ms. Brown's primary focus at BankAmerica has been developing business with state and local government agencies for institutional investment management and also with individuals for private banking.

Ms. Brown is no stranger to the world of money management. As California's treasurer from 1991 to 1994, she oversaw the state's $26 billion portfolio and its bond issuances.

At BankAmerica, she plans to draw on her experience in the state treasurer's office to build a rapport with institutional clients across the country.

"I served as a trustee to the two largest pension funds in the state, so I've walked in their shoes and I know what they're looking for," Ms. Brown said.

"I can bring that expertise to the sell side," she added.

Mr. Brown said the treasurer's office provided plenty of sales experience since she was in charge of selling all of the state's notes and bonds.

"That was a major sell job when California was in its greatest financial recession since the 1930s," Ms. Brown said.

Before becoming state treasurer, Ms. Brown focused on public and corporate finance as a lawyer at O'Melveny & Myers, a Los Angeles firm with an international clientele.

The hiring of Ms. Brown this summer was considered a coup for BankAmerica.

One consultant said that high-profile executives are intangible assets when building business in investment management.

"The investment business is greatly dependent on a few individuals who make things happen," said Avi Nachmany, a partner at Strategic Insight, a New York consulting firm. "Fundamentally, it's an intellectual business which depends on public confidence."

Since July, Ms. Brown has been a senior vice president at the bank. In that time, she established an educational program - the Women's Banking Initiative - within the private bank. The program will be unveiled next year.

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