NEW YORK, 3 November 2025 — Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, is preparing to meet investors this week at the bank’s first investor day since 2011, at a moment when the lender continues to under-perform many of its peers, drawing investor scrutiny over returns, growth and strategic direction.
Lagging Behind the Pack
Moynihan took the helm in 2010 and is credited with steering the bank through the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Throughout his tenure, BofA has consistently improved its fundamentals—from paying back bailout funds to expanding its consumer and wealth businesses. Yet critics argue that the bank has remained too cautious, and now trails major rivals in several key metrics.
- In the third quarter of 2025, BofA posted a return on tangible equity (ROTCE) of 15.4 %. By comparison, JPMorgan Chase generated a ROTCE of about 20 % in the same period.
- Stock performance has also lagged: BofA shares have risen ~21 % year-to-date, compared with ~29 % at JPMorgan and ~42 % at Citigroup.
- Observers point to weak momentum in several areas, loan growth, investment banking revenue, and new-asset acquisition in wealth management, that are key growth engines for competitors.
With such relative underperformance, the upcoming investor day is seen as a pivotal moment for the bank to outline how it intends to narrow the gaps and reinvigorate its trajectory.
What’s on the Agenda
At the investor gathering scheduled for 5 November in Boston, analysts expect Moynihan and his team to address:
- Strategies to boost returns: With the bank’s controlled-risk approach lauded in crisis years, investors now want to see how BofA intends to ramp returns and capital-efficiency.
- Wealth-management growth: While BofA manages approximately US$6.4 trillion in assets, it remains behind JPMorgan (~US$6.8 trillion) and Morgan Stanley (~US$7 trillion). Investors are eager for a sharper growth roadmap in this segment.
- Investment-banking and trading competitiveness: BofA’s merger-and-acquisition (M&A) and markets business still trail peers, raising questions about how the bank will leverage its scale and network to improve.
- Succession planning and leadership transition: Moynihan, now 66, is expected to remain in place through the decade, but investors will look for clarity on the talent pipeline, co-presidents Dean Athanasia and Jim DeMare, and CFO Alastair Borthwick, whom BofA elevated recently.
Implications for Asia-Pacific Investors and Markets
For Asian institutional investors and cross-border banking watchers, BofA’s investor day and performance matter for several reasons:
- A stronger U.S. bank may mean deeper U.S.–Asia capital-flow channels, particularly for wealth-management and corporate-banking services in Asia-Pacific.
- If BofA is forced into a more aggressive growth posture, it may increase competition for Asian banks in asset-gathering, trading and investment-banking services.
- Investors allocating globally must watch how U.S. large banks perform, because their performance and strategy shape cross-border credit flows, risk appetite and global financial-market sentiment.
What to Watch
- Will BofA set clear return-on-equity (ROE) targets materially higher than its current figure?
- Will management unveil new growth initiatives, such as acquisitions or platform plays in wealth, markets or Asia-Pacific expansion?
- How will BofA address cost-efficiency and scale, particularly in comparison with peers whose margins appear wider?
- Will investors and analysts conclude that Moynihan’s cautious style is now a drag rather than a strength, potentially triggering pressure for faster change?
