Bank of America hires senior bankers amid investment bank turnaround

Bank of America's investment bank is on the rebound from a tough year in 2018, adding a slew of senior dealmakers and winning blockbuster deals as it claws back market share.

The firm has hired nearly two-dozen senior investment bankers globally this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

More hiring is in the offing as well, as the bank announced last week efforts to build out its coverage of ultra-wealthy families and sovereign wealth funds.

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Bank of America's investment bank has experienced a sharp turnaround in fortunes midway through the year following a disappointing campaign in 2018 that saw the firm lose market and key executives.

In 2019, under new corporate and investment banking chief Matthew Koder, the firm is adding a slew of senior bankers and landing high-profile deals as it claws back market share and jockeys for position on the industry league tables.

The bank has made nearly two-dozen senior hires this year across its global investment banking and capital markets operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of the hires have not yet been announced as the bankers haven't started work at the firm yet.

“Under new management, Bank of America has signaled it's committed to being one of the top players, and that's quite clearly been borne out in the number of high-quality MDs they're trying to hire worldwide and so far have hired worldwide year to date,” Julian Bell, regional managing director for the Americas for executive search firm Sheffield Haworth, told Business Insider.

Just in recent weeks the bank has internally announced several additions, according to memos seen by Business Insider:

Gregg Polle is leaving Moelis & Company and joining the firm this summer as a managing director and vice chairman in the mergers and acquisitions group.

Rick Sherlund, previously the co-head of technology investment banking at Perella Weinberg, is joining as a vice chairman in technology investment banking.

Jared Birnbaum, a consumer and retail debt capital markets banker most recently at Deutsche Bank, joined as an MD.

Others that have joined the firm's senior ranks this year: Jamie Turturici, previously with JPMorgan Chase, as an MD in tech equity capital markets; John Collmer, previously with JPMorgan, as head of equity private placements; Neil Abromavage, previously with Deutsche Bank, as an MD in financial institutions investment banking, and Tom Bradshaw, as an MD in industrials investment banking.

A Bank of America spokesman declined to comment.

More senior hiring is expected at Bank of America this year as well, as the firm makes a push to grow its coverage of sovereign wealth and pension funds as well as ultra-wealthy families.

In a memo sent last week by investment banking co-heads Jack MacDonald and Thomas Sheehan, the firm announced it was building out its team covering global sovereign wealth funds and public pension fund clients, which it described as a $9 trillion market. They tapped Woody Boueiz, who was already running the group but also previously served as co-head of the Middle East and North Africa region, to handle the initiative as his primary focus.

The bank also announced last week the appointment of Andreas Loulloupis as head of Global Private Capital Family Office Investment Banking, according to an internal memo. He previously served as an MD in the bank's European financial sponsors group.

A person familiar with the firm's strategy said more senior hires were planned for each of these build-outs.

Landing blockbuster deals and righting the ship

That the firm is hiring should come as little surprise. Following a tumultuous year in 2018 that saw the firm lose ground in investment-banking revenues, especially in US M&A, and resulted in the departure of global chief Christian Meissner, the bank made plans to hire 50 senior dealmakers to bolster the division.

But Bank of America has shown signs of righting the ship even apart from the new senior hires, which in investment banking often take many months before they get up to speed and start contributing to the bottom line.

The message from new boss Koder, who reportedly told his division they already had enough resources to compete and win market share apart from new hires, seems to have resonated with staff.

The firm reclaimed the third-position on the investment-banking league tables in the first half of the year, after falling to fourth in 2018, according to Dealogic. Bank of America edged out Morgan Stanley but still trails JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.

In US M&A revenue — a sore spot last year — the firm moved up to 6th after dropping to 9th in the first half of 2018, according to Dealogic.

The company has landed high profile assignments as well: Bank of America had a lead role on Uber's monster IPO in May, and it advised oil giant Occidental on its $38 billion buyout of Anadarko and First Data on its $22 billion sale to Fiserv, two of the largest deals this year.

It also advised on the $9.1 billion sale this week of railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming to a group of private investors.

To be sure, Bank of America isn't the only investment bank actively hiring, and it has lost top-flight talent, too. For instance, Eric Bischof, the firm's head of global financial institutions investment banking, recently left to rejoin Morgan Stanley.

Senior investment-banking recruiters Business Insider spoke with said the big American banks have been making concerted hiring efforts to ensure they stay at the top of the league table or climb higher, especially as European peers like Deutsche Bank and Barclays navigate internal turmoil and lackluster deal activity in their home markets.

Bank of America and Citigroup, both of which fell just outside the top three of the global and US investment banking league table in 2018, are each in position to add to their ranks and have made aggressive hiring pushes this year, recruiters said.

Citi recently poached a trio high-profile dealmakers from Deutsche Bank: Mark Hantho, previously Deutsche Bank's chairman of global investment banking and capital-markets coverage; John Eydenberg, previously Deutsche's chairman of the Americas; and Mark Keene, previously the German lender's global cohead of technology, media, and telecom. The bank also added several young MDs from Goldman Sachs.

“The large American banks are committed to being top or getting there,” Bell said. “JPMorgan, Goldman, and Morgan Stanley are perceived as the top-3, and the others are working hard at promoting themselves to the highest levels.”