Wednesday, May 12, 1999
PNC launches investment services unit
Big investors target market Company aims for affluent
BY JEFF McKINNEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hoping to lure customers from powerhouse financial-service companies like Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch, PNC Bank Corp. today will introduce a unit to market its investment and trust businesses under a new name.
PNC Advisors will serve as the umbrella group for PNC's brokerage, trust, investment management and private banking lines of businesses.
The new business group largely blossomed from the Pittsburgh-based bank's recent acquisition of Louisville-based Hilliard Lyons Inc. for about $275 million in stock.
PNC Advisors will allow affluent individuals and organizations to do one-stop shopping to buy financial services including securities, trust accounts, money markets and investment advice.
The unit is headquartered in Pittsburgh and includes 1,000 advisers in 19 states and more than 400,000 clients. It has 116 employees locally and about 3,500 nationwide.
Ronald Murphy, who will run PNC Advisors' investment advisory services unit, said Hilliard Lyons was the last piece PNC needed to offer the various services under one unit.
Mr. Murphy said PNC Advisors will have more than $100 billion in assets under management and plans to open 50 to 60 more Hilliard Lyons offices by 2004. Hilliard Lyons now has 125 offices nation wide, including three in Cincinnati.
John Haller, president and chief executive of PNC Bank's 53-branch Cincinnati unit, said banks typically are viewed as lenders and institutions for deposits, not investment experts.
But he said PNC Advisors will help his bank change that perception and possibly win more business people ranging from chief executives to wealthy individuals who want advice about how to invest their money.
PNC plans to invest $3 million this year to launch PNC Advisors in 19 states, including Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, and predicts it will increase the new business unit's combined profits to $150 million this year from $125 million last year.
“As you see more branding on our part, we'll become more competitive with the Merrill Lynches and Travelers of the world,” Mr. Haller said.
Mr. Haller said PNC's Cincinnati unit is looking for sites to open additional Hilliard Lyons offices this year, but it has not been determined when or how many will open.
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