Committed to the Issues You Care About
How Bank of America lives its values - from investing in a better environment to engaging employees.

As more and more people factor their concern for a better world into their investment choices, companies are supporting those beliefs as well. At Merrill Lynch, this is reflected in the way that the firm provides solutions for clients to incorporate their environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns into their investments. Just as important, ESG also carries over into how Bank of America conducts its own operations. "Environmental issues have a direct impact on agriculture, the economy, labor and social issues," says Bonnie Benhayon, Global Environmental Business Development executive at Bank of America. In 2012, Bank of America completed a landmark $20 billion environmental initiative to address climate change and use of natural resources across every aspect of the bank's operations. And this year the company launched an even larger, 10-year, $50 billion environmental support effort spanning lending, equipment finance, capital markets and advisory activity, carbon finance, transportation grants and other programs.
This past September, the firm was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which includes some 140 major companies on its North America index and 333 on its World index, selected for their ESG records. On a grassroots level, some 16,000 Bank of America and Merrill Lynch employees today participate in My Environment, a global employee engagement program.