Jim Davey and the rest of the team in the Hartford's [profile] mutual fund unit now know their new commute: they are all heading to Pennsylvania. And, they are planning to greatly expand their team.

In fact, Hartford's mutual fund crew will be parking with the folks at Wellington Management in a Radnor office complex. Wellington is now the sole subadvisor to the Hartford's mutual funds. The funds are currently based in Simsbury, Connecticut but had more than 100 workers based in Wayne,, Pennsylvania.

Davey, president of the Hartford Mutual Funds, explained: "This move will allow us to focus our attention on the manufacturing, distribution and servicing of our funds in closer proximity to our sole sub-advisor."

He added that they are "determined to use the move to strengthen [their] investment culture and earn a place among the nation's top ten mutual fund complexes."

The funds had nearly $90 billion in AUM at year-end 2011 and were created in 1996.

To meet the goal of becoming top 10, Davey said that they will hire as many as 50 employees this spring in the new Pennsylvania office to support sales of its funds in the advisor-sold and defined contribution investment only (DC I-O) channels.

"The consolidation of the management of our sales and marketing activities, combined with our expanded relationship with Wellington, will transform our mutual funds business from a successful business into an exceptional business," Davey said.

The relocation of the mutual fund business stems from the decision by top executives at the insurer to run off the annuity business and focus on its property casualty line.

The more than 100 sales and marketing executives based in Wayne have already made the move to Radnor.

The rest of the senior leadership team and approximately 25 additional employees in the Simsbury office will begin relocating to Radnor soon, according to Hartford officials.

The transfer agency and other back-office operations will remain in Woodbury, Minnesota. 

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