BofA's U.S. Trust To Add Advisers & Grow Wealth Management

In a bid to boost wealth management revenue, Bank of America Corporation’s (NYSE:BAC) U.S. Trust business is planning to hire over 100 financial advisers as disclosed by Keith Banks, president of U.S. Trust, at a financial services conference in New York.

U.S. Trust plans to increase the number of private client advisers to over 450 from the current 323 over the next three years. Additionally, it looks forward to add around 20 to 25 experienced advisers.

U.S. Trust’s usual client-facing teams consist of a private client advisor, private client manager, Trust officer, portfolio manager, wealth strategist, and philanthropic expert among others.

Under the previously launched private client advisor development program, U.S. Trust plans to grow the team of financial advisers, who cater to the wealthiest clients. New hires and an internal training program will contribute to growth.

Futher, U.S. Trust will hire portfolio managers and trust officers to support the advisers. Moreover, U.S. Trust has undertaken several key initiatives that will have a substantial impact on both assets under management as well as loan volume.

In the first quarter of 2016, Bank of America’s Wealth and Investment Management unit recorded $4.4 billion in revenue. Of Bank of America’s total assets of $2.5 trillion, U.S. Trust assets comprise $390 billion.

The move comes on the heels of the growing trend among large banks to shift focus on wealth management with an aim to improve revenues.

Wealthy clients usually generate steady revenues as fees are based on a percentage of assets under management rather than transactions. Also, new regulations designed to limit riskier activities have hit investment banking and trading businesses harder than wealth management and private banking.

Per a Reuters report, banks continue to cite demographic trends to justify their emphasis on wealth management despite growing competition. Banks like Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) , Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) are among those competing with Bank of America for talent and customers in U.S. wealth management.

Currently, Bank of America carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).


WELLS FARGO-NEW (WFC): Free Stock Analysis Report

BANK OF AMER CP (BAC): Free Stock Analysis Report

UBS GROUP AG (UBS): Free Stock Analysis Report

MORGAN STANLEY (MS): Free Stock Analysis Report

Original post

Zacks Investment Research