Bank of America’s Private Bank/US Trust has poached private client advisors from rivals including Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and SunTrust Mortgage, as well as from industries outside of finance, to build out its client facing teams in Connecticut and South Carolina on the east coast of the US.

Former Bank of New York Mellon MD Patricia McDermott was appointed city executive and private client advisor in Westport, Connecticut.

Testament to the demand for private client talent in the US, the firm tapped Robert Haskins, former vice president of sales for manufacturing company, Mueller Industries, to be a private client advisor in Greenwich, the country’s hedge fund capital.

In South Carolina the firm looked within its own Premier Banking & Investments business to hire Paul Kitchin private client consultant and Cynthia Legette, relationship manager, both in Charleston.

Meghan Stein-Webster, who the firm said spent the past two-years as a business owner, designing and selling a line of children’s clothing, was appointed trust officer.

Also in South Carolina Peggy Richardson, former SunTrust Mortgage loan officer, was appointed private client consultant servicing the Kiawah/Seabrook and Johns Island markets.

Following the purchase of US Trust this year, and the ongoing combination of the two businesses business, Bank of America and its private bank has undertaken to increase the number of client-facing professionals nationwide in the US. In 2007 the firm said it has hired more than 200 client-facing professionals throughout the country.

The business serves clients with more than $3 million in investable assets.