Bank of America is expanding its private banking business by targeting wealthy US families. Over the past 10 months, the bank has put in place eight teams across the country to advise clients with more than $50 million in investable assets. “There are around 10,000 families in the US with over $50 million, and no one bank yet dominates that market,” says Aline Sullivan, a spokeswoman for BofA.
BofA has a solid retail and premier banking business in the US, but has been trying to increase its private banking proposition. In 2004, the bank acquired FleetBoston, gaining access to the wealthy northeast corridor and significantly increasing its private banking capabilities. It is as a result of this acquisition that the separate business targeting families was established.
“After the acquisition, we ended up with a very large national private banking business and it was obvious we needed further segmentation,” says Alan Rappaport, president of the family wealth advisory business. Rappaport says the division will offer alternative investments, philanthropy, credit, personal treasury management and personal liquidity management, equities, and hard assets such as real estate, timber, oil and gas. BofA’s global and wealth management division increased its revenue last year by 24.6%
