Bank of America 2001 Annual Report Download - page 28

goal is to grow the Series 7 team to approximately 3,000 over
the next three or four years. Equally important is our plan to
grow our relationship manager sales force in the Private Bank.
The more professionals we add to our team, the better able
we are to serve our clients’ varied wealth management needs.
We are also working to enhance the ability of our bankers
and investment professionals to serve our clients more effec-
tively. Enhanced training and professional development oppor-
tunities will create a more seamless experience for our clients.
Our compensation programs are more effectively aligned
with our long-term strategy to encourage the development of
comprehensive long-lasting client relationships. The result:
our associates are exceptionally well equipped to serve the
needs of our clients and to deliver superior service and advice.
Offering a fuller suite of products and services allows
us to address a broad range of client needs. In 2001 we added
to our already robust product offerings in several significant
areas. Fee-based products, sophisticated investment instru-
ments that give clients access to several leading money man-
agers, are now being offered for Private Bank clients through
the Strategic Investment Portfolio. Investors can gain access
to alternative investments through the Banc of America Capital
Management Multi-Strategy Hedge Fund (see box at left).
We think these products will be particularly attractive to the
discerning investor who wants access to more than one world-
class money manager at relatively low cost. Another highlight
of our expanded product offerings is the increasingly popular
529 college investment plan (see page 25). These popular plans
allow investors to accumulate assets for college expenses free
of federal income taxes.
Each of the three core groups within Asset Management –
Private Bank, Capital Management and the Individual Investor
Group, must work together to provide clients with the best in
wealth and investment management products and services.
The Private Bank at Bank of America is a potent force
in the world of wealth management. It focuses on building
and preserving the wealth of individuals and families by pro-
viding clients with investment, fiduciary and comprehensive
client needs and matching clients with the right products and
services throughout Asset Management and the rest of the bank.
Advice is critical to our strategy of providing compre-
hensive financial services to Bank of America clients. We want
to earn the right to become our clients’ trusted financial advi-
sor, growing and managing relationships over the years and
generations for more and more clients.
We’re adding substantially to the numbers of licensed
professionals among our associates. Since 1999, the number
of Series 6 licensed associates has grown to 3,100 from 1,200
and Series 7 has increased to nearly 1,300 from 1,000. Our
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We want to earn the right to become our clients’ trusted
financial advisor, growing and managing relationships over the years and
and generations for more and more clients.
OUR MULTI-MANAGER CONSULTANT FEE-BASED PRODUCTS
allow us to offer something our clients find especially valuable: access
to more than one of the top money managers, and a fixed fee for a
bundle of services, including buying and selling stocks and bonds. Our
fee-based products are particularly attractive because we have our
own process for identifying the money managers and hedge fund
managers: ten analysts who identify, through qualitative and quantita-
tive screens, the money management firms and hedge funds in a
process that is transparent to the intermediary and to the investor.
For Private Bank clients, these products are part of our Strategic
Investment Portfolio. Broker-dealers will have access to fee-based
products through our Selects program, which offers a highly selective,
carefully monitored number of specialized managers.
The Banc of America Capital Management Multi-Strategy Hedge
Fund, our fund-of-funds account, offers high-net-worth clients the
opportunity to diversify their investments while gaining access to
some of the most talented money managers in the world – all through
a single investment. The multi-manager hedge fund is designed to
enable discerning investors to access the hedge fund universe with a
bias toward risk management.
Customizable and balanced, these multi-manager fee-based
products form an important part of our approach to providing the
right products and solutions for our clients.
Fee-based Products
Give Clients Access to
World-class Money
Management