MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 18, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- BNC National Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:BNCC) and Palisade Asset Management, LLC announced today that BNC entered into a strategic alliance with Palisade to manage approximately $250 million in bank assets. The two organizations will share investment management personnel and expenses, and Palisade will expand its client offerings to include the wealth management services that are part of BNC's trust company service.
As part of its expanded investment services, the two organizations announced that Dennis M. Ott has joined the shared investment management teams of BNC and Palisade. Ott is a 34 year veteran in the Twin Cities financial community. Since 1997, he has managed equity and fixed income portfolios at U.S. Trust, formerly Resource Trust Company. His investment management experience includes over 10 years each at Fortis Advisers, managing both fixed income and balanced mutual funds and at First Trust Company of St. Paul, managing trust portfolios.
"This represents a win-win situation for both BNC and Palisade," said E. Thomas Welch, president of BNC National Bank, Minnesota Market. "Palisade's broad base of investment management experience combined with our trust and other private banking services will significantly expand BNC's wealth management capabilities."
Founded in 2001, Palisade currently manages $80 million in equity and fixed income assets for high net worth individuals and institutional investors, including ERISA based plans, foundations, endowments and other non-profit organizations.
"This new mandate will allow Palisade to evolve to a new level, enabling our firm to expand its research and portfolio management resources as well as our investment style offerings," said James C. King, one of the firm's three principals.
Welch added that the BNC-Palisade partnership is consistent with BNC's overall strategy of pursuing business opportunities that help the organization expand its geographic footprint beyond its home base in Phoenix, AZ.
About BNCCORP, Inc.
BNCCORP, Inc. is a registered bank holding company dedicated to providing a broad range of financial products and superior customer service to businesses and consumers in its local communities. The company operates 26 locations in Arizona, Minnesota, North Dakota, Colorado and Nevada through its subsidiary, BNC National Bank and its subsidiaries BNC Insurance Services, Inc., and BNC Asset Management Inc., as well as the bank's trust and financial services division which provide a wide array of insurance, brokerage and trust and financial services. The company offers a variety of traditional and nontraditional financial products and services in order to meet the financial needs of its current customer base, establish new relationships in the markets it serves and expand its business opportunities.
About Palisade Asset Management, LLC
Palisade Asset Management, LLC provides customized investment management services to individuals and medium-sized organizations. Paramount to its services and process is to provide understandable and appropriate solutions and create an efficient on-going financial management framework. Palisade specializes in a variety of investment strategies designed to create and preserve capital over the long term. The firm also provides customized tax-exempt and taxable bond strategies, as an integral part of a balance-sheet driven asset allocation approach.