Waist-deep water and Houston's Great Flood of 2001 triggered AIM's disaster plan this week, diverting business units to Austin in order to continue business as normal.

"We've been underwater," said Kamala Sachidanandan, APAM's director of marketing, describing the effects of Tropical Storm Allison. "We've had so much water, that 6,000 or 7,000 cars floated away."

Executives at AIM decided to go into business recovery mode on Sunday, dispatching the portfolio management and client service units to Austin where the fund complex maintains a business recovery site. Austin is 2.5 hours away by car and 45 minutes by air.

"The marketing arm can rally its troops telephonically," said an AIM spokesperson, "but you actually have to have people in the offices to manage money."

Water has been pumped from the facility, and repairs have been completed on the phone and electrical systems. Officials expect the Houston facility to return to normal operations by tomorrow morning. 

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