Bank of America 2004 Annual Report Download - page 6

Two great tasks defined your company’s efforts in 2004. First, we accelerated the execution of our organic growth
strategy, creating value for shareholders by building and expanding millions of customer and client relationships
across the country. Second, we acquired and began to integrate the operations of FleetBoston Financial Corporation,
adding more than 6 million customers and greatly increasing our opportunities for value creation and future growth
in a single stroke.
Some observers outside the company saw strategic conflict or a kind of corporate ambivalence in these two
tasks. We do not.
In fact, we view our acquisition of Fleet as tightly connected to our ongoing commitment to organic growth. We
said from the moment our two companies came together that our goal was not just to reduce costs, but to accelerate
organic growth in the Northeast. And that’s just what we have done.
At the same time, the momentum we have been building for several years with our customers throughout the
company continued to grow. In our retail banking operations, continuing improvements to products, services and the
banking center experience are driving customer “delight” and revenue to all-time highs. In our wholesale banking
businesses, bankers are working together to bring a full range of investment banking products and services to more of
our clients than ever before. In our wealth management business, we are expanding our financial advisor network and
increasing market share across the nation’s best and fastest-growing wealth markets.
While our associates are working within their lines of business to build customer relationships, they also are
reaching out to work with teammates across the company to create new opportunities to deliver the full power of
Bank of America to our customers. For example, investment bankers are working with commercial bankers to
provide M&A advice to middle-market CEOs. Personal financial advisors are working with teammates across the
bank to help us serve more of our consumer, small business, commercial and corporate customers with wealth
management services.
And last year, we launched an initiative called the Fixed Income Strategies Group that enables our Global
Capital Markets and Investment Banking business to distribute fixed-income products through Global Wealth and
Investment Management’s network of financial advisors serving high-net-worth and retail clients, expanding the suite of
product offerings available to our clients.
All this work is creating strong, consistent financial performance for our shareholders. You can read more
about how our associates are working together to grow the company starting on page 9 of this report.
Strategic vision, financial results
Our associates are pursuing our vision of a nationwide, universal bank for consumers and small businesses; a
full-service corporate and investment bank with global capabilities for our commercial and corporate clients; and a
company that produces strong, consistent financial returns for its shareholders by delivering higher standards of service
for our customers every day. Our financial results are evidence that, in this pursuit, we are winning in the marketplace.
In 2004, Bank of America earned $14.1 billion, was the world’s fifth most profitable company and, with a market
capitalization at year-end of $190 billion, was the second most highly valued financial services company in the world.
Our results exceeded our goals in most important financial categories, including diluted earnings per share, net
income, revenue and credit quality. I hope you will review our financial results in more detail in the financial summary
BANK OF AMERICA 2004 5
To our shareholders: