Bank of America reported $7.7 billion in net income in the third quarter, up from $4.9 billion in the year-ago period and beating Wall Street forecasts, the bank said in its earnings reports released today.
As in the last quarter, the bank’s wealth unit
Merrill had revenue of $4.5 billion for the quarter, up 19% from the year-ago period, driven by record asset and deposit growth, according to the firm. Its AUM balances, up 29% to $1.2 trillion, were driven by market appreciation and positive client flows. Merrill’s record loan balances of $133 billion, up 10% from the same time in 2020, were powered by growth in securities-based lending, also according to Bank of America.
“Growth in our new households at Merrill and at the private bank continued as we continue to build pipelines and move back toward our pre-pandemic pace,” CIO Paul Donofrio said on an earnings call Thursday morning.
The bank reported a trending drop in advisor headcount. It currently has 18,855 advisors company wide — that’s down 3% from the last quarter and is an 8% drain from this time last year, a phenomenon the bank attributes to the pandemic-induced pause in hiring trainees. The bank also noted that attrition among veteran Merrill advisors dropped last quarter to below the firm’s historical average of 4% after experiencing a slight rise in the second quarter.
