Bank of America Elevates Wealth Management Executives -- Update

By Rachel Louise Ensign

Bank of America Corp. late Tuesday unveiled a number of executive moves in various business units.

The bank elevated two executives in the wealth-management unit previously run by Terry Laughlin, who reported to Chief Executive Brian Moynihan and died unexpectedly in October. Katy Knox, head of U.S. Trust, and Andy Sieg, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, will join the bank's executive-management team and report to Mr. Moynihan, the bank said.

U.S. Trust, which caters to ultrawealthy clients, and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, known for its "thundering herd" of financial advisers, are the key components of Bank of America's wealth-management unit. The bank's wealth business has total client balances of more than $2.8 trillion and about 19,000 wealth advisers.

The bank also announced that Thong Nguyen, co-head of the bank's consumer unit and a direct report of Mr. Moynihan, will become a vice chairman overseeing topics including corporate strategy and payments. Dean Athanasia will be sole head of consumer banking.

Additionally, Chief Administrative Officer Andrea Smith will now oversee the firm's marketing efforts, an area that previously fell under Vice Chairman Anne Finucane. Ms. Finucane will spend more time on her role as chairman of the board of the bank's new European entity, a company that had to be created due to Brexit and was finalized this month. She will continue to lead the bank's sustainability work and public policy.

The management changes were first reported by The Wall Street Journal earlier Tuesday.

Write to Rachel Louise Ensign at rachel.ensign@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 04, 2018 22:14 ET (03:14 GMT)

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