US Bancorp Asset Management, advisor to the First American Funds has added distribution through Country Insurance & Financial Services (Bloomington, Illinois). The deal will distribute the eight First American Funds through the bank.

The deal promises to round out the product offering for Country and gain US Bancorp resources to up its marketing muscle. The deal will let Country use marketing tools and support from US Bancorp. The bank will also offer its wholesaling team's services to the distributor. Both firms’ use Quasar as their fund distributor.

Country currently offers only five funds of its own, including one equity fund, three bond funds and a balanced fund. Without the heft of a firm such as US Bancorp, smaller and regional institutions are finding themselves at a marketing disadvantage. They also are unable to build the same investment expertise as dedicated fund shops or large institutions.

Peter Torvik, executive vice president of marketing and product development for U.S. Bancorp Asset Management explained that the firms hope the addition of the eight First American Funds will "create a broad, balanced offering that Country agents can offer their clients."

"We want to be an important business partner for Country," Torvik said. "We spent several months constructing this relationship between our two organizations, and we were successful in reaching an agreement because we share common values and goals."  

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