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“One of the most pronounced trends we’ve seen in recent years is the call for wealth to have a productive impact on our environment, our communities, and our society broadly, in addition to earning an investment return," says Andrew Sieg, the head of the global wealth and retirement solutions at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in a statement to OnWallSteet.com’s Mason Braswell.

"Our program offers opportunities for a wide range of investors with diverse interests and beliefs to help meet this need."

The program is designed to enhance products and services available to a growing segment of clients concerned with values-based investing.

The firm has launched two investment strategies so far this year that are tailored to environmental, social and governance themes.

  • The U.S. Trust division, which caters to some of the firm’s wealthiest clients, launched the Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability strategy, which screens investments based on the energy practices, carbon footprint reduction and process efficiency of the underlying companies.
  • Bank of America also deployed a program called Socially Innovative Investing across its U.S. Trust and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management divisions. That strategy, allows clients to customize their own selection criteria for investments.