Bank of America will get roughly $19 billion in institutional assets from U.S. Trust as part of a deal announced earlier today to acquire the wealth management firm. The majority of the assets are in fixed income.
Specific plans on how the institutional business will be blended into BofA, however, have not yet been determined, said Jon Goldstein, spokesman for Bank of America. "We're at the 30,000-foot level right now, and we're working on finding the best organizational structure," said Mr. Goldstein.
Bank of America could merge the U.S. Trust institutional business into its private bank, or it could integrate the business into Columbia Management, BofA's asset management arm. Calls to Keith Banks, president and CIO of Columbia, and Joseph Trainor, managing director and president of U.S. Trust Institutional, were not returned.
Bank of America will pay $3.3 billion to acquire U.S. Trust, which is owned by Charles Schwab. U.S. Trust managed $94 billion in assets as of Sept. 30. The deal is expected to close March 31
