State Street Names New Global Advisors Head
State Street
(STT) - Get Report
on Friday named a new head to its investment management unit, which was responsible for a big fourth-quarter hit due to losses tied to mortgage losses.
The Boston-based trust bank named Scott Powers CEO of its State Street Global Advisors business. He replaces James Phalen, who ran the unit on an interim basis since January, after the resignation of William Hunt.
Global Advisors was responsible for a $279 million, or 71 cents a share, fourth-quarter charge
to cover potential legal costs
related to losses from its mortgage-backed investments. State Street plans to create a $618 million legal defense fund as a result of the investment losses.
"We were fortunate to have had an extremely talented pool of internal and external candidates to evaluate during the extensive global search process, and Scott has many of the attributes that are important to us for the future leadership of
Global Advisors," Chairman and CEO Ronald Logue said in a company statement. "Not only is he a talented and experienced executive with a deep commitment to client service, but he also has considerable experience leading investment management businesses that span every asset class and the risk return spectrum."
Powers, 48, was CEO of Old Mutual US. Phalen will resume his old position as head of international operations for State Street's investment servicing and investment research and trading businesses.
Trust banks like State Street,
Bank of New York Mellon
(BK) - Get Report
and
Northern Trust
(NTRS) - Get Report
have fared better than investment and commercial banks during the credit market turmoil since last summer.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.