After 35 years in a variety of leadership roles across the U.S., Jim retired from Bank of America in 2013. Now, he and his wife, Norma, focus their time, and their joy, on being grandparents.
Connected to the bank through heritage
For Jim, Bank of America feels like part of his heritage. After all, his grandfather borrowed money for his contracting business from the then San Francisco bank, Bank of Italy – founded by A.P Giannini who changed the name to Bank of America in 1930.
Jim felt that natural connection to the company when he was recruited out of college and began his career in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, California, which was not far from where he grew up. During those early years, he gained a strong foundation by learning how to work with clients, lead teams and hone his credit skills.
As Jim’s career progressed, he took on increased leadership roles in Commercial Banking that moved him and his family to Southern California, the Southwest (Phoenix and Dallas) and then across the U.S. With each new role, and through exposure to acquisitions, Jim gained expertise that shaped his career at the bank. He was promoted to executive vice president early in his career.
Jim explained, “When we acquired Security Pacific Bank, I learned about acquisition and integration strategy. Then, when we integrated Continental Illinois Bank and LaSalle Bank in Chicago, I was exposed to credit theory, systemic risk, recessionary risk, and concentration risk. These experiences all helped me grow in my career and as a leader.”
After having a role split between Chicago and New York, Jim spent the last 12 years of his career in New York. He led the inaugural Risk Hedging Strategy for Global Large Corporate in the mid 2000’s. Thereafter, Jim had been Global Head of Corporate and Investment Banking Risk, prior to being Global Head of Consumer and Private Banking Risk. In this final role, he played a significant role with the bank through the stress of the financial crisis by working with the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and with other regulatory agencies focused on consumer risk.
Pivotal moment in the company’s history
Jim’s most memorable experience at the bank also comes from his time in New York. He reflected on September 2008 as other financial institutions were feeling the impact of their troubled asset pool and lending practices.
Jim recalled, “I was in the room as one of two BofA leaders, the weekend where meetings were held at the Federal Reserve Building in New York. The meetings, including Henry Paulson, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and Tim Geithner, former Head of the New York Federal Reserve, were the precursor to our company’s senior leaders working through the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program solution and integration of Merrill Lynch.”
Renewed focus on wellness and family
Jim felt it was the right time for him to retire, “I knew that I was leaving things in a good place and, most importantly, that I had assembled a strong group of diverse leaders -- who were categorically the finest Risk-based talent in the industry, and who would build and mentor strong teams.”
Since retiring, Jim has focused on his health. Additionally, he and his wife are delighted to help care for their eight-year-old grandson -- spending time with him four to five days per week.
“Being a grandparent is the best role a person can have. It’s a labor of love to help my son’s family and to spend time with our grandson as he grows up and participates in many activities,” Jim shared.
As their grandson gets a bit older, Jim and his wife Norma are looking forward to more time for volunteering in the community and on boards of nonprofit organizations.
Living by our values
Jim spent his entire career at the bank and attributes that to how the company lives our core values. “By asking ourselves whether something meets our core values, we mitigate reputational risk — something our competitors have struggled with in the past.”
“We’ve always done things the right way and that’s why I stayed on through acquisitions,” Jim explained. Jim’s family moved eight times during his career. He also believes that the value proposition our company brings to communities lies in the work our market presidents do to create economic opportunity at the local level.
Perspective and thoughtful approach bring alumni together
After retiring, Jim stayed in touch with bank colleagues and was happy to join the Bank of America Alumni Network Advisory Forum, bringing his perspective as a leader with a risk background to planning efforts for the network.
“With the formation of the network, we’ve really put a lot of thought into developing relationships among our enormous alumni population in a way that acknowledges people’s varying experiences at the company,” Jim said.