Eaton Vance Investment Counsel, a subsidiary of New York-listed Eaton Vance, has appointed William Gillen as vice president of business development.

The firm said Gillen will be responsible for enhancing its presence “in the marketplace and overall marketing efforts,” as well as managing select client relationships, reporting to David McCabe, president of EVIC.

Gillen has spent the past 23 years with Eaton Vance Distributors, another subsidiary of Eaton Vance, responsible for the distribution of the firm's mutual funds, separately-managed accounts and alternative investments.

EVIC provides investment counsel services and wealth management services to high net worth individuals and families, trusts, charitable organizations and institutions. Its 19 investment counselors manage $4.2 billion in client assets, as at 30 April.

In other developments at Eaton Vance, last month the firm announced that it was to acquire a 49 per cent share in Hexavest, a Canadian discretionary investment manager, for an undisclosed cash sum. Earlier that month, it also appointed Aaron Dunn, J Griffith Noble and Jason Kritzer as senior research analysts and vice presidents.