Del. Bank Opens Private Banking and Trust Office in N.Y.

Wilmington Trust Corp. has opened a New York private banking and personal trust office in affiliation with a local investment management firm.

The office, which was opened Monday, is to be run by Peter E. "Tony" Guernsey Jr., who used to run the New York private banking office of the former Union Bank of Switzerland.

The new operation falls under Wilmington Trust FSB, a subsidiary dedicated to personal trust that also has offices in Florida and Maryland. The New York presence will seek to attract the wealthy clientele of Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn Inc., an investment management firm in which Wilmington Trust bought a 24% stake this year.

"We want to work with them to expand our presence in New York so we can have a larger base there," said Ted T. Cecala, chairman of the Delaware banking company. Mr. Cecala said he expects Mr. Guernsey's "stature" to help the bank "be very, very successful" in the region.

Wilmington is expanding private-client services, a core business, by taking stakes in high-end investment managers, Mr. Cecala said. This week it plans to close a deal for an interest in Roxbury Capital Management, a Santa Monica, Calif., firm.

Cramer Rosenthal and Roxbury each manage about $2 billion of assets for individuals out of asset bases of $4.3 billion and $5 billion, respectively. Wilmington subsidiaries manage about $40 billion for individuals and institutions and have an additional $75 billion under custody or administration.

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