The Hartford names 529 leader

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. of Simsbury, Conn., announced today that Keith Sloane, a 23-year investment industry veteran, has been appointed to the position of senior vice president.
In this newly-created position, Mr. Sloane will lead the firm’s mutual fund and 529 college savings businesses.
Previously, Mr. Sloane spent 12 years at Wachovia Securities where he was most recently the managing director of product marketing.
Before joining Wachovia, he held leadership positions at PaineWebber for 11 years and played a role in growing the proprietary asset management and mutual fund business.
The appointment is one of several developments at The Hartford.
The company’s mutual fund family surpassed $50 billion in assets under management as of Oct. 1, a doubling in less than three years and a fivefold increase from 2000.
Retail mutual fund sales were at $10.8 billion through the third quarter, representing a 34% increase over the same time period in 2006.
The Hartford’s mutual fund family has been ranked as the fastest growing non-proprietary fund family to reach $50 billion in assets by Strategic Insight Mutual Fund Research and Consulting LLC of New York.
The Hartford had revenues of $26.5 billion in 2006.