Bank of America Corp. announced Friday that Terrence Laughlin, vice chairman and head of global wealth and investment management, has died at age 63.
His death, which was from natural causes, came unexpectedly, according to a spokesperson for Bank of America, who said the firm is focusing on his family before naming a successor.
Bank of America’s wealth management businesses, including Merrill Lynch, had about $2.8 trillion in client assets at the end of June, according to its website.
“Terry was a builder and a problem solver, and one of the finest individuals I’ve had the privilege to know and work alongside,” said Brian Moynihan, Bank of America’s chief executive officer, in the statement. “His leadership on global wealth and investment management, helping to build a consolidated banking and wealth management business, is without a peer in our industry.”
Laughlin recently helped expand the firm’s presence in “his beloved city” of Pittsburgh, according to Moynihan. The spokesperson confirmed that’s where Laughlin was born.
Laughlin, who previously served as the bank’s chief risk officer, was instrumental in helping it recover from the 2008 financial crisis, Moynihan said. He led the legacy asset servicing group, formed in 2011 to handle mortgage loans that defaulted during the crisis.
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According to the spokesperson, Laughlin worked at Bank of America for a total 25 years, though not in a single stretch.
In 2009, he was part of an investment group that acquired troubled mortgage lender IndyMac, now called OneWest Bank, from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Under the deal, Laughlin became CEO of OneWest Bank, based in Pasadena, California.
Beyond his work on Wall Street, Laughlin served on the board of the Urban Institute — a nonprofit founded by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to support the well-being of U.S. communities — and of the Brooklyn Museum.
“Terry was a gifted leader who cared deeply about the world in which we live,” said Jack Bovender, Bank of America’s lead independent director, in the statement. “Just this month, he convened a blue-ribbon panel of experts in New York to consider ways that the private sector can address the impacts of climate change on urban communities.”
Closer to his roots, Laughlin recently served on the board of trustees for the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a master’s degree in business administration in 1981. He also created the Laughlin Endowed Fund to provide financial support for graduate students in the School of Education.
“The greatest measure of success for any university is the success of its alumni,” Patrick Gallagher, chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh chancellor, said in emailed statement. “He was a giant in the investment world, a leader in our community, and a devoted friend and generous partner of the University.”
