Investment industry veteran tapped to expand Eastern’s money management business

BOSTON, Nov. 7, 2002 – Carol C. McMullen, a former senior executive at Putnam Investments and Baring Asset Management, has been named executive vice president in charge of Eastern Bank’s Private Banking and Trust groups, the bank announced today.

The appointment is the first of several moves that Eastern hopes will enable it to better serve existing investment management customers and attract new ones who are dissatisfied with the service and investment strategy of their current managers.

“We are delighted to have Carol join our leadership team here at Eastern,” said Stanley J. Lukowski, Eastern’s chairman and chief executive officer. “We have an aggressive plan to grow our investment management group, much in the same way we expanded our retail presence in the early 1990s and our commercial banking operation in the late 1990s. Carol has the leadership skills, along with the sales and investment experience, to accomplish this task.”

In the past decade, Eastern has tripled the size of its retail franchise and quadrupled the size of its commercial loan portfolio. The Private Banking and Trust groups now have about $3 billion in assets under custody.

Prior to joining Eastern, McMullen was the global head of sales for the Investment Management Group at Thomson Financial, a leading provider of financial information and products.

McMullen was also a senior manager at Putnam Investments from 1995 to 2000. From 1998 to 2000, she ran Global Investment Research, making her responsible for the leadership and development of more than 100 analysts worldwide. Prior to that, she was chief investment officer for Global Growth Equities, overseeing all of Putnam’s domestic and global growth portfolio teams, representing more than $125 billion under management.

From 1985 to 1995, McMullen was a senior executive at Baring Asset Management, where her responsibilities included senior portfolio manager for Domestic Growth Equities, followed by co-head of U.S. Equities, senior portfolio manager of Global Portfolios.

“This is an opportunity to lead a mid-size bank that is well positioned to gain market share at a time when many investors are looking for more personalized service from their manager and a sound investment strategy,” McMullen said. “At large investment management organizations, many customers have little contact with senior managers and, as a result, their individual investment needs are ignored. We plan to target this group of disenfranchised investors by providing sound advice and investment strategies, backed by stellar customer service.”

McMullen earned her bachelor’s degree at Wellesley College and her MBA at Harvard. She is active in the Greater Boston community, serving as a Trustee of Newton Wellesley Hospital and chairing its Finance Committee. She also serves on the standing committee of First Parish Church in Weston and is a member of the Corporation at Partners Health Care in Boston.

Founded in 1818, Eastern Bank is New England’s largest mutually-owned, independent commercial bank, with $4.2 billion in assets, $3 billion in commercial and consumer loans and 47 branches in Greater Boston. Eastern has a full line of consumer, commercial and investment management products.

For more information, contact: Joe Bartolotta, Public Relations Director, Eastern Bank,
(781) 596-4411, or e-mail Joe Bartolotta.