From thundering herd to scurry of squirrels: Merrill's rush to gather assets

The thundering herd has become a scurry of squirrels, Bank of America's wealth earnings Tuesday suggested. 

Despite another consecutive quarter of declining profit and revenue, the Wall Street megabank's wealth businesses flaunted one major trump card in the third quarter: their squirrel-like ability to gather new assets at scale, including attracting some of the world's wealthiest pocketbooks. 

"Despite the third quarter seasonally being a lower quarter, we added approximately 6,300 net new households, up 22% year over year," Eric Schimpf, the president and co-head of Merrill Wealth Management, said in an earnings call with select press on Tuesday. "And year to date, we've added nearly 31,000 net new households, putting us on track for a record year." 

PROMO: Hans, Schmipf boast of new client relationships in first Merrill earnings call

Both experienced advisors and new advisors coming out of the firm's trainee programs contributed to that growth, he said. 

"We believe we are entering the largest asset-gathering opportunity that FAs have seen in decades," Lindsay Hans, president and co-head of Merrill, said on the call. "We are well positioned to capture a large share of that growth. It's about being the client's first phone call [and] being their primary provider for investments and banking. And we have the platform."   

In particular, the firm continues to appeal to the ultrarich. Between Merrill Wealth Management and Bank of America Private Bank, the bank said that so far this year, it had grown the number of new ultrahigh net worth client relationships by around 60% year over year. Ultrahigh net worth clients, defined in this case as households with $10 million or more, are often considered the golden geese of wealth management — the clients every big firm wants. The wirehouses continue to dominate other firms in winning these richest retail clients, new Cerulli research has found. 

The legacy brokerage firm Merrill Lynch once made its name by focusing on average Americans, seeking not to shun "the modest sums of the thrifty," as founder Charlie Merrill once reportedly wrote. 

The wirehouse's now-parent company Bank of America beat expectations on earnings per share of $0.90 on Tuesday, which was 15% more than the analyst consensus of $0.78. 

To see the main takeaways from Merrill's third-quarter earnings, scroll down the slideshow. For coverage of the firm's second-quarter earnings, click here. For a look at the results from the first quarter, click here. 

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