Whitebox Advisors has hired Mike Coffey as head of distribution for its mutual funds.

Coffey, who played for the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Organization after four years of varsity baseball at the University of Notre Dame, was most recently senior vice president and head of third party distribution for New York Life/MainStay, where he oversaw sales and relationship management for the firm's mutual funds, annuities, and separately managed accounts.

Before that, he was a director at BlackRock.

In his current position, he will be responsible for raising Whitebox Mutual Funds assets, client services, as well as building its sales and marketing team.

Here is the press release:

Company Press Release
Whitebox Mutual Funds adds Mike Coffey as Head of Mutual Fund Distribution
New hire to grow team and further develop Whitebox's mutual fund business

MINNEAPOLIS, April 17, 2013 -- Today Whitebox Advisors, an asset management company based in Minneapolis with over $2 billion in AUM (2/28/2013), announced it hired Mike Coffey as Head of Distribution for the firm's mutual funds.

Mr. Coffey will be responsible for raising Whitebox Mutual Funds assets, client services, as well as building its sales and marketing team.

"Mike has a great blend of entrepreneurial spirit and deep industry knowledge -- both of which I believe define the core of Whitebox as a business," said Whitebox Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Andrew Redleaf. "We are evangelists for principle-driven investment. And one of those principles is that it is our duty--not our clients'--to identify the areas of greatest opportunity and least risk in securities markets at any given time. We believe that when mutual fund companies invest solely in standard asset classes they effectively abandon their customers to the whims of the market. We think that this is wrong."

Mr. Coffey joins Whitebox with nearly 20 years of sales and marketing experience. In his most recent role, Mr. Coffey served as Senior Vice President and Head of Third Party Distribution for New York Life/MainStay, where he oversaw sales and relationship management for the firm's mutual funds, annuities, and separately managed accounts. Prior to New York Life, Coffey served as Director at Blackrock, where he held a number of senior sales and management positions. In 2008, Mr. Coffey was named one of Investment News' "Top 10 Rising Stars" in mutual funds. In his early career, Mr. Coffey played for the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Organization after four years of varsity baseball at the University of Notre Dame.

"Whitebox offers an investment management worldview that is atypical and extremely refreshing in this space," said Coffey. "I am honored to join Whitebox Mutual Funds and support the effort to bring Whitebox's principles and sophisticated investment team to the broader market."

"We are very excited to have someone with Mike's background and experience to build upon the initial success of our mutual funds," said Whitebox Mutual Funds' President, Bruce Nordin. "This is a significant step forward for the future of the team and of these products."

Mr. Coffey will be based in Whitebox's Minneapolis, MN headquarters.

For media inquiries, please contact Amara Kaiyalethe at akaiyalethe@whiteboxadvisors.com or 612-355-2028.

Whitebox Mutual Funds are distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc. Member FINRA.

ALPS Distributors, Inc. is not affiliated with Whitebox Advisors.

There are risks involved with investing including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Bruce Nordin is a registered representative of ALPS Distributors, Inc.

The funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The statutory prospectus contains this and other important information about the investment company, and it may be obtained by calling 855.296.2866, or visiting www.whiteboxmutualfunds.com. Read it carefully before investing.

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE