Bank of America 2011 Annual Report Download - page 6

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“ What is Bank of
America doing to help
get the housing market
going again?”
We also continued to help distressed mortgage customers,
either by modifying loans to create sustainable, long-term
solutions, or by helping them through a dignified transition
to new housing. We have now modified more than 1 million
mortgage loans since the beginning of 2008, and Bank of
America is now responsible for about one in three mortgage
modifications in the country. This work is helping individual
borrowers and supporting the recovery of the housing markets
and the broader U.S. economy.
We originated $6.4 billion in small business loans and commit-
ments in 2011, and we hired more than 500 new small
business bankers during the year to further support small
business customers. We expect to reach our goal this year
of adding 1,000 small business bankers to serve these
customers and help our economy keep growing.
We provided our affluent clients with a full set of investment
management, brokerage, banking, retirement, wealth structur-
ing and trust services through our Merrill Lynch Global Wealth
Management, U.S. Trust and Merrill Edge businesses. In 2011,
we continued to invest in these businesses to ensure we
meet our clients’ needs, with the addition of more than 1,600
wealth advisors to our team. Our long-term flows of assets
under management from these clients grew to $28 billion.
Large companies and institutional investors need the best
global corporate, investment banking and research capabilities
integrated to help them achieve their business goals — and
we are delivering. We maintained our No. 2 global ranking in
investment banking fees by working together to deliver the full
capabilities of the company to our clients. We also continued to
be a source of leading research and ideas for our institutional
investor clients, as Institutional Investor magazine named Bank
of America Merrill Lynch “Top Global Research Firm of 2011.”
Being the best place to work
We believe that by being the best place to work for our
employees, they can better serve our customers and clients,
which, in turn, will result in good returns for our shareholders.
To put this philosophy into practice, we continue to improve
“ We have modified more mortgage loans than any other
servicer: More than 1 million homeowners have been
helped. We are making one in three modifications in the
entire country. Helping our customers who are at risk
of foreclosure with sustainable mortgage payments
through loan modification is good for our customers,
our investors and the overall U.S. economy.”
Helping Homeowners
Providing solutions for distressed homeowners remains a critical
focus for us. Since January 2008, we have completed more than
1 million loan modifications under our own programs and government
programs. In partnership with national and local nonprofits, we have
also conducted outreach programs to work with homeowners who
are in danger of falling behind on their payments. In addition, we
recently announced innovative partnerships in Cleveland, Chicago
and Detroit to assist with the demolition of deteriorating structures
and to donate low-value vacant and abandoned properties for
redevelopment, open space, urban farming or other uses that benefit
the community.