Ally Financial, Bank of America and Barings Announce an Investment of More Than $70 Million in Affordable Housing in Charlotte

Investment Marks the Largest Private-Sector Commitment to Affordable Housing in Charlotte's History

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Jan 15, 2019, 09:30 ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ally Financial, Bank of America and Barings, three of the leading financial services companies in Charlotte, announced a combined investment of $70.75 million for affordable housing in the city and surrounding area. This private investment marks the largest private-public initiative of its kind in Charlotte.

Ally CEO Jeff Brown, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Barings Chairman and CEO Tom Finke agreed to explore how each of their companies can help address some of the city's biggest challenges that relate to economic mobility. Together, the companies are making a combined investment to incentivize the creation of more affordable housing. The Charlotte area has witnessed explosive growth over the past two decades, driving housing costs up and creating a shortage of affordable homes for low- to moderate-income families.

"I hope today's announcement encourages more companies to come forward to support our city," said Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles. "It's going to take all of us to solve these big issues facing so many of our citizens."

The initiative between the three companies increases the impact of each company's individual investments, which includes:

$50 million in below-market loans to finance affordable housing developments, which is equivalent to a $1 million grant per year for the next 15 years.
$11 million invested in the newly proposed Housing Opportunity Investment Fund, which will assess affordable housing projects and find financing to execute viable projects.
$2.5 million allocated to economic mobility programming and grants over the next five years.
$7.25 million worth of land donated to make affordable housing possible, particularly in Uptown Charlotte.

"In Charlotte, the general public, the business community and elected officials work together to take action and meet these needs," said Moynihan. "This is a great model for other cities addressing similar issues."

The below-market loans, which represent the largest portion of the investment, will be priced as much as 2 percent below market rate, potentially saving affordable housing developers $1 million every year over the next 15 years. This will help families access more affordable housing options with more inventory available.

"While this investment is significant, there is more work to be done to make affordable housing achievable and sustainable in Charlotte," said Finke, who made the investment in partnership with Barings' parent company Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual). "We hope this partnership inspires other organizations to contribute to increasing economic mobility in our community."

The newly-proposed Housing Opportunity Investment Fund will be managed by the city's Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), which is part of a national corporation that focuses on projects that revitalize communities and bring greater economic opportunity to residents.

"As the Charlotte economy has grown, low- to moderate-income families have to pay a disproportionate percentage of their take-home pay for decent housing in safe and stable neighborhoods," said Brown. "We are excited to be working hand in hand with Bank of America and Barings to make this contribution to affordable housing, and we're encouraging other companies to join us in this important initiative."

Ally Financial Inc.
Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a leading digital financial services company with assets of $173.1 billion as of September 30, 2018. As a client-centric company with passionate customer service and innovative financial solutions, Ally is relentlessly focused on "Doing it Right" and being a trusted financial partner for its consumer, commercial, and corporate customers. Ally's award-winning online bank (Ally Bank, Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender) offers mortgage-lending services and a variety of deposit and other banking products, including CDs, online savings, money market and checking accounts, and IRA products. Ally also promotes the Ally CashBack Credit Card. Additionally, Ally offers securities brokerage and investment advisory services through Ally Invest. Ally remains one of the largest full-service auto finance operations in the country with a complementary auto-focused insurance business, which together serve approximately 18,000 dealer customers and millions of auto consumers. Ally's robust corporate finance business offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies.

For more information and disclosures about Ally, visit https://www.ally.com/#disclosures.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,400 retail financial centers, approximately 16,100 ATMs, and award-winning digital banking with more than 36 million active users, including nearly 26 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom. Click here to register for news email alerts.

www.bankofamerica.com

Barings

Barings is a $310+ billion* global financial services firm dedicated to meeting the evolving investment and capital needs of our clients. We build lasting partnerships that leverage our distinctive expertise across traditional and alternative asset classes to deliver innovative solutions and exceptional service. Part of MassMutual, Barings maintains a strong global presence with over 1,900 professionals and offices in 16 countries. Learn more at www.barings.com.

*As of September 30, 2018

Contacts:

Ferris Morrison, Bank of America, 1.980.387.5843
[email protected]

Andrea Puchalsky, Ally, 1.313.656.3798
[email protected]

Kelly Smith, Barings, 1.980.417.5648
[email protected]

SOURCE Ally Financial