The decision makers at Manning & Napier [profile] added bodies even as they prepared to float their shares. The hires have included 75 people during the past 12 months, reports the Rochester Business Journal. The mutual fund shop now employs 489 people across the company.

The firm's CEO implied that it still still making some hires in areas such as client service, where it has filled five of seven spots.

The Perinton, New York-based mutual fund manager reported net income on Wednesday of $2.9 million or 21 cents a share for its most recent quarter. The company also accrued $3.7 million to account for share-based compensation expense during the first quarter. James Mikolaichik, chief financial officer, attributed the accrual to the reorganizations before their IPO.

CEO Patrick Cunningham said that the hires were "across the board."

"There has been some concentration in distribution, but we've experienced it across (the company). We continue to expand our geographic coverage in the direct sales channel, and launched non-U.S. equity and income-oriented products for both institutional and high net worth investors," Cunningham said during the conference call with stock analysts.

"We continue to expect a slow-growth environment," Cunningham said. "We'll remain focused on purchasing securities that are growing faster than the overall economy. This growth can be due to market share or other factors. It really doesn't matter. They just need to be outpacing the market." 

Correction: A prior version of this story gave the wrong number of employees at Manning & Napier. The firm currently has 489 employees. The story has been updated accordingly.

Edited by: HFD


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