Bank of America's macro traders are on fire
Bank of America’s second-quarter results were published today. They were mostly good – the bank beat earnings estimates – but one group was first among equals at BofA: its macro traders.
Get Morning Coffee ☕ in your inbox. Sign up here.
The bank’s investor presentation showed that 58% of revenue in its fixed income, currencies, and commodities (FICC) trading operations came from macro trading in the first half of 2025. That was up from the 52% that macro traders generated in the first half of 2024.
While BofA's FICC trading revenues grew by 12% between H1 2024 and 2025, macro trading revenues at the bank grew by 25%. Revenues from trading credit and other products fell by 2.5%.
Macro traders therefore carried a big win for BofA this year. Citi's macro traders, which reported yesterday, did not do as well: its “rate and currencies” traders enjoyed a revenue increase of just 17% across H1.
While BofA's macro traders thrived in the first half, BofA's equities traders didn't. Equities revenues at the bank increased only 14%, compared to the increases of 30-34% year-on-year at JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs. This was despite BofA's investment in EMEA equity derivatives throughout last year - although it did cut heads in equities earlier this year.
Other goals appear to have been met. BofA has aspired to become a top three player in European fixed income trading since 2023. 63% of sales and trading revenues were generated in the US and Canada in H1 of last year; that number was down to 59% this year.
It was a more sorry story in banking, though. BofA's M&A revenue was down in H1 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, while all peers enjoyed revenue growth. Market intelligence provider Dealogic showed that, in the first half of 2025, Bank of America lost its fourth place in the global M&A league table to Citi, which surged up from seventh place in 2024.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, WhatsApp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
