Atlantic Trust, Invesco’s private wealth management business, has brought in Denise Whennen as a senior vice president and business development officer at its Chicago, IL, office.

Whennen's appointment is part of a firm-wide initiative to invest in key growth regions, Atlantic Trust said. The Chicago office is the firm’s third largest and has over $2.2 billion in assets under management, as at end-December 2012.

“Chicago is an important market, considering our firm has an 80-year history in the Midwest through Stein Roe Investment Counsel, and we continue to see great opportunities to build our presence in the region,” said Jack Markwalter, chairman and chief executive of Atlantic Trust.  

In her new role Whennen will work on fostering new client relationships and strengthening associations with intermediary referral sources, alongside Jeffrey Jacobs, who leads Chicago's business development efforts, and the client service teams.

She has over 28 years of industry experience, having previously served as a vice president and business development officer at RMB Capital Management. Before that, she was a vice president and financial advisor at Bernstein Wealth Management.

In other recent expansionary moves, at the end of 2012 Atlantic Trust opened its doors in Wilmington, DE, launching its 12th office in the US (view here).

The firm has $20.3 billion in assets under management, as at end-December 2012.