US trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, has appointed Gillian Howell as national philanthropic solutions executive, Family Wealth Report can exclusively reveal.

US Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, has appointed Gillian Howell as national philanthropic solutions executive, Family Wealth Report can exclusively reveal.

In her new Hartford, CT-based role, Howell - a 23-year Bank of America and philanthropic industry veteran - succeeds Patricia Scalabrin, who the firm said retired earlier this year.

Howell has held several private and institutional leadership positions within US Trust’s Philanthropic Solutions Group over the past 20 years and thus has detailed knowledge of the business and of the major trends and issues impacting the industry.

The unit serves wealthy donors, private and family foundations, and institutional clients, with some 180 philanthropic specialists and over $35.4 billion in assets under management.

Going forward, Howell said her focus will be on the advisory side to the non-profit sector and high net worth donors.

“Investment management services are key to what we do, but I think it’s extremely important that we develop and expand the advisory side. Given the cutbacks from a federal perspective to non-profits, they’re going to have to be very creative in how they bring in more dollars to their organization,” she told Family Wealth Report.

Another priority will be to broaden the reach of the bank’s foundation advisory services in a way which helps wealthy individuals establish and manage private foundations through strategic planning and family engagement.

With that in mind, she added that entrepreneurs are one of the most significant groups of givers today. This segment, she said, is very inclined to treat their philanthropy “just like a business.” These individuals are very interested in returns - and they want to be able to measure it.

US Trust’s Philanthropic Solutions Group has grown 25 per cent during the last three years and Howell wants to maintain that momentum of recruiting top talent as the firm further enhances its offering in the philanthropy space.

On the non-profit side, the majority of employees come directly from the non-profit space themselves, so they understand the needs and complexities of running that type of business.

“We would certainly maintain that strategic focus,” she said.

Those involved with advising HNW donors, meanwhile, have many years of experience working daily with this segment - either in a family office context or as part of another financial institution.

But one of the key characteristics shared by all is that they are grant-makers and experts in helping families achieve their goals, she said. BoA sees a shift toward more focused, purposeful giving, with both families and individuals becoming more strategic about how, when and where they give.

“They care deeply about making a lasting impact on society and the world, and see philanthropy as a core part of the wealth experience,” the firm said. 

Overcoming challenges

“It’s a really tough time for non-profits today with federal cutbacks and market downturn - many have been forced to re-think their approach,” Howell told this publication.

“There is also an increase in federal and legislative scrutiny, which has affected that space considerably. While they’re thinking more about investment managers, there’s a trend of mitigating fiduciary risk by relying on outsourcing some of that responsibility,” she added.

“We find that investment committees and boards are less interested in assuming that responsibility and more interested in seeing how they can delegate it to a true expert in the space.”

Howell noted that conversations in the philanthropic space are often financially-driven and influenced by tax motivations, for example. But it is the more values-based conversations that “really get to the heart of the matter” and help with figuring out how to instill a sense of purpose or mission among the next generation, she said.