CLEVELAND, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gary W. Poth, a senior banking professional with 14 years of industry experience, has been named director of sales and strategy for Key Private Bank (KPB). At the same time, Timothy L. Swanson, a senior banking executive with 18 years of industry experience, has joined KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) as chief investment officer for the private bank. Both Poth and Swanson will report to Tim Lathe, executive vice president and head of Key Private Bank.

Poth will lead the development and execution of Key Private Bank's sales management process and business strategy. He will also collaborate closely with KeyBank leaders to integrate these strategies and processes into their marketplace activities. Swanson, meanwhile, will lead the development and execution of the KPB investment strategy, including equity research, portfolio management, manager research and product development and expansion. He will also be responsible for developing and clearly communicating Key Private Bank's investment strategy and philosophy, in addition to being accountable for KPB investment performance.

Poth rejoins Key from National City Corporation where he was chief financial officer for both the Private Client Group and Allegiant Asset Management. He most recently served as executive vice president and national sales manager of the bank's Private Client Group, where his business spanned 10 states, included more than 1,200 people, and generated $60 million in annual investment management, trust and banking sales. In his first stint at Key, Poth led the Strategic Consulting Group, which focused on performance improvement processes for various areas of the bank. He later served as a managing director in JP Morgan's Private Client Services technology organization. Poth's prior experiences also include the launch of a management consulting company focusing on financial services as well as a consulting position with Ernst & Young.

Swanson also joins Key from National City Corporation, where he was executive vice president and chief investment officer for the Private Client Group. In this role, Swanson was responsible for managing more than $30 billion of client assets. He oversaw an expansion of the firm's investment capabilities and improvement in performance that contributed to a five-fold increase of new investment sales over his tenure. He also established and implemented the investment strategy for the division, along with creating and chairing the Asset Allocation Committee, which provided investment guidance to field personnel. From 2006-2008, he also served as president, chief executive officer and trustee of Allegiant Funds, National City's mutual fund family. Prior to joining National City, Swanson served in a variety of asset management roles at Wachovia, including head of equities for Wachovia Asset Management and co-creator/co-manager of the Wachovia Emerging Markets Fund.

"We welcome both Gary and Tim to our organization as both are seasoned professionals with extensive experience in their respective fields," Lathe said. "Gary is ideally suited to successfully develop and execute our sales management process and strategy, while Tim has the expertise to lead the development and implementation of investment and business strategy within the segment."

About KeyCorp

Cleveland-based KeyCorp is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $98 billion. BusinessWeek Magazine named Key the top bank in its Customer Service Champ 2009 edition, ranking Key 11th out of the top-25 companies that include many known for their customer service acumen. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/.

SOURCE KeyCorp