First Eagle Investment Management plans to grow its sales team within the first half of this year, said the firm's new CEO, Bridget Macaskill, in an interview with The MFWire.

Bridget Macaskill First Eagle Funds CEO

It has yet to be determined how many salespeople First Eagle will be adding.

Currently, FEF Distributors, led by president and national sales director Robert Bruno, counts six external and six internal wholesalers plus around eight other staffers.

"We plan to expand our sales force this year," Macaskill said. "We want to make sure there's enough coverage in the field."

Macaskill became CEO on February 12, succeeding John Arnhold, who remains chairman and takes on the title of chief investment officer.

"It's not my intent to dramatically change the company," Macaskill said.

Macaskill, a one-time CEO of OppenheimerFunds, joined First Eagle in February 2009 as president and chief operating officer. Prior to joining the firm, she did a six-month consulting project with First Eagle that wrapped up last December.

"It wasn't designed for one thing to lead to another," she said.

Her appointment as CEO came two months after the firm rebranded to First Eagle Investment Management from Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder Advisers.

Along with the name change came a logo change. Macaskill describes the new logo as featuring a "sleek-looking eagle."

Asked whether First Eagle plans to expand its five-fund product roster, Macaskill said: "We're definitely looking at that." 

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