Reliance Trust Co. of Atlanta and FundQuest Inc. have teamed up to start an end-to-end set of wealth management products and services for banks and wealth managers.
Their offering, to be introduced in the first quarter, includes access to open architecture managers, investment management services, trading and settlement, and trust accounting and custody, the companies said Tuesday. Brian Coakley, the vice president of institutional sales for FundQuest, said in an interview Monday that the partnership should help the Boston investment management unit of BNP Paribas SA add banking partners.
Robert Del Col, FundQuest's chief executive officer, said in a September interview that the company would have three to four banks offering its turnkey asset management platform by yearend. In an April interview he said it expected to sign up eight to 10 banks this year.
"It is hard to convince banks that they can afford to break away from offering just their own" proprietary products, he said in September. Mr. Coakley said Monday that three or four of Reliance's customers have agreed to use the new platform.
Reliance, which had $39 billion of assets under management and administration at Sept. 30, is to offer the expanded set of services to its more than 50 bank trust institutions and wealth management firms. FundQuest, which had $30 billion of assets under management and administration at Sept. 30, will offer the service to its bank, broker-dealer, insurance, and registered investment adviser customers.
Anthony Greene, the director of corporate communication for Reliance, said in an interview Monday that it hopes to use the newly packaged platform to increase distribution through banks, independent registered investment advisers, and broker-dealers.
