UBS Financial Services Group announced Tuesday that Mitchell Hutchins Asset Management Inc., the PaineWebber Inc. investment management subsidiary focusing on the private client end-user market, has joined the UBS Asset Management business group.
The Switzerland-based UBS AG purchased PaineWebber in July.
Mitchell Hutchins will be renamed Brinson Advisors Inc., but will not take on the institutional asset management focus of UBS's Brinson Partners. There will be no planned integration of the two groups' investment platforms, according to a statement prepared by UBS.
David P. Walker, a spokesman for UBS, said the move will constitute more of a "realignment" than a merger. A spokeswoman for Brinson Advisors said there will be no personnel changes.
The new Brinson Advisors will continue focusing on municipal securities and the delivery of investment products and services to the wholesale intermediary market.
In July, Ebby Gerry, a managing director of municipal investments at Brinson Advisors, stressed the firm's success with and commitment to its individual retail accounts.
Last fall, PaineWebber decided to outsource the management on 19 of its 25 mutual funds, including all five of its municipal debt funds.
-- Jacob Fine