UK – SEI Investments is boosting its presence within southern Europe, with the appointment of Marco Zanuso as director of business development for the region.

Zanuso will report to Karl Dasher, managing director of continental Europe, and assist him in the development of SEI’s business there with a specific focus on the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese markets.

Prior to joining SEI, Zanuso was head of business development, Southern Europe at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership in Italy.

At SEI, Zanuso will be responsible for establishing partnerships with select private banks, wealth managers and IFA networks in the region to address the needs of affluent investors. SEI has been focusing on growing its global institutional asset management business, where it has had most success in the UK.

New asset growth from affluent investors, also a target, was modest in 2002 as “affluent investors around the world stood by their portfolios, generally unwilling to commit to new investment programmes,” says SEI.

The US-based company says it will be focusing on financial advisors in the UK and Canada, and private banks in Europe. An operating loss in this area is forecast for 2003.

SEI Investments manages around 78 billion dollars (66.6 billion euros) in assets, and administers about 230 billon dollars (196 billion euros) in mutual fund and pooled assets.

For 2002, SEI’s net income grew 12% to 141 million dollars, while revenues declined 6% to 621 million dollars. Earnings per share grew 15% to 1.25 dollars.

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