Hartford Investments Canada Corp. has entered into an exclusive investment management partnership with Bill Kanko and his firm, Black Creek Investment Management Inc., to sub-advise Hartford Global Leaders Fund, effective June 2006.

A 25-year veteran of the Canadian mutual fund business, Kanko is best known as a former portfolio manager of Trimark Fund and Trimark Select Growth Fund at AIM Trimark Investments. He also served as portfolio manager of Mackenzie Ivy Foreign Equity Fund at Mackenzie Financial Corp.

While at AIM Trimark, Kanko delivered first quartile performance in the global equity mutual fund category and managed $13 billion in mutual fund assets. HE left AIM Trimark in August 2004 to form Black Creek, and, since that time, his stock picking talents have been available only to a few high net worth clients.

Hartford Investments Canada is now bringing the proven expertise of Kanko to all investors, big and small.

Kanko’s hiring is another in a series of strategic moves designed to spur long-term growth for Hartford Investments Canada. Lee Johnson has recently joined Hartford Investments Canada as vice president of sales and distribution. Johnson previously worked for The Hartford in the U.S. as vice president of sales for independent advisors. Johnson is working to drive sales growth in the broker channel and with mutual fund dealer firms.

These additions to Hartford’s team in Canada are starting to drive results. Assets under management for Hartford Investments Canada doubled from 2004, to over $391 million as of Dec. 31, 2005. In addition, sales more than doubled from 2004, to over $182 million in 2005, a record for the firm. Assets under management reached $484 million as of June 2, 2006.

Robert Arena, who oversees Hartford’s U.S. mutual funds business, says that “developing the Canadian market for retail investments is a key initiative for us,” and “this year we are growing distribution, launching new mutual funds and continuing to add top talent to the sales and marketing team.”

Currently, Hartford Investments Canada offers 10 mutual funds. The equity and balanced funds are sub-advised by Greystone Managed Investments, Inc.; Beutel, Goodman & Company Ltd.; and Wellington Management Company. The fixed income funds are sub-advised by Hartford Investment Management Company.

Hartford is one of the largest financial services and insurance companies in the U.S., with 2005 revenues of US$27.1 billion. International operations are located in Canada, Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom.