Forward Funds [see profile] and Accessor Capital Management are moving forward with their merger. Forward's newly appointed president Jeffrey Cusack, who is overseeing the integration, spoke to The MFWire on combining the two firms.

"This is an integration of two very different organizations," said Cusack, whose hiring was announced by Forward on Tuesday (see The MFWire, August 19, 2008). Forward manages money in SMAs and mutual funds, while Accessor is more of a consulting type firm, he noted.

Forward plans to leverage Accessor's bank wholesaling team to sell its own products.

"We are currently looking at ways to bring the two sales forces together," Cusack said. One of the biggest decisions the company has with respect to the sales force is whether to have sales people be specialists or generalists, he said.

The company also plans to eventually add to the sales force as well, Cusack said.

Both companies utilize a sub-advised fund model. Cusack said that Forward plans to retain all of Accessor's sub-advising contracts.

Cusack also said that Forward would be open to making more acquisitions as well. 

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