Fleet Asset Management Forms New Structured Equity Portfolio Management Group; Eric Remole and Michael Welhoelter Recruited from Credit Suisse Asset Management to Lead New Group.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2001

Eric N. Remole and Michael A. Welhoelter have joined the Fleet Asset Management Group of FleetBoston Financial (NYSE: FBF), to form a new Structured Equity Portfolio Management Group.

Mr. Remole will join as Managing Director and Head of Structured Equity reporting to Roger A. Sayler, Managing Director of Equity, and Mr. Welhoelter, will join as Vice President reporting to Mr. Remole. Both joined Fleet from Credit Suisse Asset Management.

"By recruiting Eric and Mike as a talented and highly regarded professional team, Fleet has a major opportunity to immediately combine our focused fundamental investment research capabilities with modern quantitative and risk management techniques," said Keith Banks, Chief Executive Officer of Fleet Asset Management and Chief Investment Officer of FleetBoston Financial. "We believe this new structured equity capability for enhanced index and related products meet the investment objectives of a very broad set of clients."

"Eric and Mike have an established track record of performance, achieving superior returns using consistent and disciplined investment management techniques," said Mr. Sayler. "These new capabilities underscore our strong commitment to both client oriented products and value added investment processes."

Prior to joining Fleet, Mr. Remole was Managing Director and head of Global Structured Products for Credit Suisse Asset Management. In this capacity, he headed the team that in four years built an active structured equity business consisting of a variety of equity strategies, ranging from enhanced index equity to long-short market neutral strategies. These integrate return forecasts, risk assessment, and transaction cost estimates. Previously, from 1984 to 1997, he was with Chancellor/LGT Asset Management, rising to the position of Managing Director, Head of Quantitative Equity, and Senior Portfolio Manager. Through the use of quantitative techniques, Mr. Remole managed a number of portfolios and strategies that significantly and consistently outperformed their benchmark indices without increasing the risk profile of the assets under management. Mr. Remole graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. degree in 1978 and received an M.S. degree in Operations Research from Stanford University in 1981. He is a member of the Society of Quantitative Analysts, the American Mensa Society, and the National Futures Association.

Mr. Welhoelter joins Fleet Asset Management from Credit Suisse Asset Management where since 1997 he has been Vice President and Portfolio Manager for Global Structured Products and worked with Mr. Remole. Previously the two were colleagues at Chancellor/LGT Asset Management, which Mr. Welhoelter joined in 1986 and where in 1993 he was appointed Portfolio Manager and Vice President of Quantitative Equity Research. He graduated from Colgate University with a B.A. in Computer and Information Science in 1984. Mr. Welhoelter is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and a Member of the New York Society of Security Analysts, the Society of Quantitative Analysts, and the National Futures Association.

Fleet Asset Management has $170 billion in assets under management, 39 percent of which are institutional, 34 percent in mutual funds, and 27 percent managed for high net worth individuals in Fleet's Private Clients Group. Fleet's asset management business is also diversified by asset classes, with 50 percent in equity, 30 percent in fixed income, and 20 percent in money market funds. Its asset management businesses comprise such well-known names as Colonial Management Associates, Stein Roe & Farnham, Columbia Management, Galaxy Funds, Wanger Asset Management, Newport Pacific Management, Progress Investment Management, and Crabbe Huson Group.

FleetBoston Financial is the seventh-largest financial holding company in the United States. A $200 billion diversified financial services company, it offers a comprehensive array of innovative financial solutions to 20 million customers in more than 20 countries and territories. FleetBoston Financial is headquartered in Boston and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: FBF) and the Boston Stock Exchange (BSE: FBF).