First Citizens Securities to offer managed accounts, UMAs through FundQuest. Columbia, S.C.-based First Citizens Bank and Trust Company has launched a fee-based retail brokerage firm called First Citizen Securities using FundQuest's third-party asset-management platform.

"We can now offer our clients a broader array of investment products and services tailored to help them achieve their long-term financial growth strategies," says Britt Borders, director of First Citizens' wealth advisory group. "FundQuest has provided us with an industry leading platform that incorporates First Citizens' branding and is customized to meet our requirements."

Competitor

First Citizens Securities will deliver three fee-based separately managed accounts. A unified managed account capability is in the offing. The firm will also provide financial planning and life and long-term-care insurance.

"By enhancing its proprietary product offering with some of the world's leading investment managers, First Citizens Securities has increased its capability to compete very effectively against national wirehouse firms," says Maryanne Morrow, v.p. of national accounts at FundQuest.

Boston-based FundQuest is owned by BNP Paribas, a Paris-based financial services giant. Including European operations, FundQuest has about $36 billion in assets under management and administration. -FWR

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