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Practice Management > Compensation and Fees

BofA-Merrill Nears $6T in Assets Across Banking, Wealth Management

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The combined assets of Bank of America’s retail channel, private bank and Merrill Wealth Management reached $5.9 trillion as of the end of the third quarter.

This figure was reported Tuesday by Lindsay Hans and Eric Schimpf, presidents and co-heads of Merrill Wealth Management, on a quarterly earnings call. They noted that Merrill Wealth Management now boasts $3.5 trillion in client balances, showing the business has experienced 18% year-over-year growth.

Private bank assets amount to another $667 billion, according to Hans and Schimpf, following 16% year-over-year growth.

The executives reported revenue of $5.8 billion, which is up 8% from last year, supported by $3.5 billion in asset management fees, which have grown 14% from a year ago. Net income grew 3% over the year to reach $1.1 billion.

Hans and Schimpf said the revenue and income momentum is based on growth in both new clients and assets under management. Within wealth management, the firm added a reported 5,500 net new relationships in the third quarter, with the added assets of $10 million in the quarter doubling the figure from a year earlier.

The duo reported some $61 billion in year-to-date fee-based inflows (inclusive of Merrill Wealth Management, private bank and consumer investments), which is up 32% from the prior year. They said this growth was driven primarily by new client acquisition and advisors working with existing clients to reinvest assets.

Other highlights from the earnings presentation show record AUM balances of $1.5 trillion in Merrill’s investment advisory program (up 26%). The number of households using alternatives has doubled versus five years ago.

The lending business has also grown consistently, with Hans and Schimpf citing a $2.4 billion increase in loan balances in the third quarter, driven mainly by momentum in custom lending, custom mortgages and securities-based lending.

Credit: Bloomberg


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