Bank of America reported results for business units including its private bank and Merrill Wealth units yesterday.

The global wealth and investment arm of Bank of America yesterday reported broadly flat net income for the first quarter of 2025 versus the same period a year ago. 

The Q1 2025 net income figure was $1.007 billion, the Charlotte, North Carolina-headquartered bank said in a statement. 

Total revenue rose to $6.02 billion from $5.59 billion; noninterest expense expanded to $4.659 billion from $4.264 billion.

Total client balances rose to $4.157 trillion, from $3.973 trillion; asset flows slowed a touch to $24 billion in Q1 2025 from $24.7 billion. 

Private bank
Within Bank of America Private Bank, it had $671 billion in client balances, and $400 billion in assets under management; about 280 net new client relationships, with each having at least $3 million, were added in the first quarter.

The Merrill Wealth side of the business, had $3.5 trillion in client balances and $1.5 trillion in AuM balances; a total of about 6,400 net new households were added in the quarter. 

(See here for a recent interview with the private bank about its strategy for the Southeastern region of the US.)

Group results
Bank of America said net income rose to $7.4 billion in Q1 2025 from $6.7 billion a year earlier; revenue, net of interest expense, was $27.4 billion, up 6 per cent on a year earlier; net interest income rose 3 per cent year-on-year at $14.4 billion.

BoA said it had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a standard yardstick of a bank’s capital shock absorber – of 11.8 per cent on a standardized basis and above the 10.7 per cent regulatory minimum. It returned $6.5 billion to shareholders, via a mix of common stock dividends and buybacks.