John Hancock Advisers has tapped John T. Litzow, formerly with RBC Dain Rauscher, to head its separate account business. Litzow takes the as senior vice president of the company's Private Client Group. While at the Minneapolis-based broker-dealer he had responsibility for full service retail and correspondent channel fee-based offerings and held the title of senior vice president and director of Investment Consulting Services.

RBC Dain Rauscher's spokesperson was not available for immediate comment on this story or how the firm has filled Litzow's responsibilities.

Hancock created Litzow's post as senior vice president of the company's Private Client Group as part of an effort to focus on the managed account business. Until this week, that business has been a part of the Institutional and Private Client Group headed by Jim Bowhers, president.

When Bowhers announced his retirement last summer (his last day with Hancock was today) the unit of the insurer saw an opportunity to draw a sharper distinction between the two businesses.

"To allow our Private Client Group to realize its full potential and become a significant player in the highly competitive market of separately managed accounts, we needed to build a distinct organizational structure with its own dedicated resources and personnel. We created John's role to enable us to help build upon our previous success in meeting the needs of high-net-worth clients," explained Maureen Ford, chairman and chief executive of John Hancock Advisors, in a statement.

Litzow will lead a team of sales, marketing and operations associates focused on expanding John Hancock Advisers' presence in the separate account management business. The unit today claims to manage more than $502.4 million.

Meanwhile, two senior vice presidents are taking over similar responsibilities for John Hancock Advisors' institutional business. Gary Cronin is overseeing sales for the unit and Doug Baran is heading up marketing and operations, according to a spokesperson.

Prior to working at RBC Dain Rauscher, Litzow was senior vice president at Fahnestock & Co. in Detroit. Earlier in his career, he was a managing director at Schumaker, Romensko & Associates in Appleton, Wisconsin. He started his career in the investment management industry as a financial consultant for Merrill Lynch in Chicago. 

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