Bank of America delivered robust financial results for the third quarter of 2025, reporting net income of $8.5 billion and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.06, marking a 31% year-over-year increase.
Total revenue rose 11% to $28.1 billion, fueled by strength across core banking, investment banking, and market-facing businesses. Net interest income (NII) increased 9% to $15.2 billion ($15.4 billion on a fully taxable-equivalent basis), reaching a record level for the company. This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of sequential NII growth, underscoring effective balance sheet positioning and continued loan and deposit expansion.
Chair and CEO Brian Moynihan attributed the strong results to consistent execution across business lines. “Strong net income growth drove third quarter diluted earnings per share up 31% from last year. This in turn drove strong improvement in our returns on assets and equity,” said Moynihan.
“Strong loan and deposit growth, coupled with effective balance sheet positioning, resulted in record net interest income. We also saw strong fee performance from our market-facing businesses. As revenues grew at a much faster rate than expenses, we drove good operating leverage and an efficiency ratio below 62%,” he said.
Investment banking fees were a standout, rising 43% to over $2 billion, reflecting a rebound in deal activity and strong performance across advisory and underwriting. The bank ranked third among all firms in investment banking fees for the quarter, gaining 136 basis points in market share. Global Banking posted net income of $2.1 billion, supported by double-digit growth in deposits and steady lending across the middle market.
The Global Markets division continued its momentum, delivering net income of $1.6 billion. Sales and trading revenue climbed 9% to $5.4 billion, marking the 14th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. Equities revenue rose 14% to $2.3 billion, while Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) revenue increased 5% to $3.1 billion.
Global Wealth and Investment Management (GWIM) generated $1.3 billion in net income on revenue of $6.3 billion, up 10% year-over-year. Asset management fees surged 12% to $3.9 billion, driven by higher market valuations and strong asset flows. Client balances rose 11% to $4.6 trillion, while average loans and leases grew 9% to $246 billion. The business added approximately 5,400 net new client relationships across Merrill and the Private Bank, with 86% of clients now digitally active.
Operating efficiency improved notably. Noninterest expenses rose 5% to $17.3 billion, primarily due to higher revenue-related compensation and strategic investments in technology and talent. However, revenue growth significantly outpaced expense increases, driving operating leverage and improving the efficiency ratio by 329 basis points to 62%.
Provision for credit losses decreased to $1.3 billion, down from $1.5 billion in the prior-year quarter and $1.6 billion in the previous quarter. Net charge-offs declined to $1.4 billion, further reinforcing the bank’s credit quality. Average loans and leases rose 9% year-over-year to $1.15 trillion, with growth across every business segment. Average deposit balances increased 4% to $1.99 trillion, extending the streak of sequential quarterly growth to nine quarters.
Bank of America’s balance sheet remains strong. The bank reported a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio of 11.6% under the standardized approach, well above regulatory minimums. CET1 capital increased by 1% to $203 billion. The firm returned $7.4 billion to shareholders during the quarter, including $2.1 billion in common stock dividends and $5.3 billion in share repurchases. The quarterly dividend was increased by 8%. Book value per common share rose 7% to $37.95, while tangible book value per share climbed 8% to $28.39.
Return on average common shareholders’ equity was 11.5%, while return on average tangible common shareholders’ equity reached 15.4%. Return on average assets was 0.98%, reflecting enhanced profitability.
Alastair Borthwick, Bank of America CFO, emphasized the benefits of Bank of America’s diversified model. “This quarter’s performance demonstrated the earnings power of our diversified model. We believe our investments in technology, talent and client experiences aided in an improved efficiency ratio as well as operating leverage,” said Borthwick.
“Our strong capital position enabled us to support clients, growing average loans by $25 billion from the second quarter, and to return $7.4 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases,” he said.
Private Markets at Your Fingertips: A New Era of Investor Access
By Max Melmed, Head of Capital Markets at Monark, and Barry Bernstein, Managing Director, COO – Technology Services at ViewTrade
For decades, private markets have remained the exclusive domain of institutional investors and the ultra-wealthy. Today, key market drivers are converging to transform how private investments are accessed and integrated into the mainstream. Traditional brokerage firms can now add access to private markets, putting what once was out of reach, at investors’ fingertips.
The Allocation Gap and the Disconnect
Private markets represent a $16 trillion asset class. Yet, they remain largely disconnected from $27 trillion in retail accredited investor wealth across more than 24 million U.S. households.
In collaboration with Stocktwits, Monark surveyed 500 Accredited Investors. This revealed that approximately 50% of investors have less than 5% allocated to private markets today. Only 7.4% have allocated more than 20%, despite 34% seeking to allocate more than 20%.
Historically, non-institutional investors faced significant compromises—lower-quality opportunities or multilayered fee structures that erode returns. Today, we stand at a transformative inflection point where this standard is poised for disruption. Those who successfully embed private markets access into existing platforms and bridge the gap
stand to reshape the investment landscape.
The Four Driving Forces
1. Regulatory Changes: Numerous regulatory changes over the last three decades have laid the foundation.
● National Securities Markets Improvement Act (1996): Streamlined interstate offerings
● Regulation ATS (1999): Foundation for private securities trading platforms
● Electronic Signatures Act (2000): E-signatures validated
● JOBS Act (2012): Allowed for marketing and increased access to private investments
● Economic Growth Act (2018): Raised investor caps from 500 to 2,000
● Expanded Accredited Definition (2020): Added professional certifications
● Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act (2025): Enables knowledge-based qualifications
2. Technological Advancements: Advancements in cloud computing, e-signatures, and automated KYC/AML have reduced friction and costs. API integrations allow private markets infrastructure to plug directly into brokerage platforms, making scale economically viable.
3. Cultural Evolution: Cultural norms have fundamentally shifted.
● Online Capital Formation: COVID-19 normalized remote investing
● Entrepreneurial Focus: Startups glamorized across media channels
● Unicorn Proliferation: From 39 companies (2013) to over 1,200 (2025)
● Equity Compensation: Broader acceptance created individual shareholders seeking liquidity
● Special Purpose Vehicle Normalization: SPVs evolved from taboo to standard
● Digital Comfort: Millennials and Gen Z embrace digital platforms
4. Business Environment Evolution: The landscape evolved to support these opportunities.
● Platform Development: Emergence of SPV providers and digital investment banks
● Extended IPO Timeline: Companies staying private longer, with more growth taking place in private markets
● Secondary Transaction Acceptance: More companies supporting employee liquidity
● Asset Manager Innovation: Traditional managers developing retail products
The Brokerage Gateway
Our research reveals:
Over 60% of accredited investors prefer accessing private markets through existing brokerage relationships rather than specialized platforms. Nearly 70% have never used direct-to-consumer private investment platforms.
Integration into traditional brokerage platforms represents a critical catalyst. There are over 100 million brokerage accounts in the U.S., representing one of the largest direct-to-investor distribution channels. By leveraging established trust, relationships, and a superior user experience, private market opportunities can reach millions of investors already managing portfolios through their brokerage account.
What’s Missing?
Until now, the missing link has been embedded API infrastructure that enables brokerage firms to integrate private market access directly into existing accounts, eliminating the need for new platforms.
Beyond this, a few key challenges remain:
SPVs.
Who Benefits?
For institutions, integrating private markets into brokerage platforms opens access to trillions in accredited investor capital. Those who act early can establish competitive advantage and capture new revenue streams.
For investors, accessing private markets within a brokerage account transforms what’s traditionally been a fragmented, manual, inefficient process into a seamless investment experience. Instead of juggling emails, PDFs, and multiple platform logins, investors can research, invest, and monitor their private holdings alongside their public portfolio in a single account.
This integration delivers immediate convenience through consolidated tax reporting and unified portfolio visibility, while providing structural advantages like enhanced secondary liquidity options for otherwise illiquid assets and streamlined liquidity event processing that keeps distributions within the same brokerage account.
The Bottom Line
Regulatory reform, technological advancement, cultural evolution, and business environment changes have converged to create a genuine inflection point. The next catalyst—seamless integration of private markets within a brokerage account—represents the key to unlocking full market potential.
With 60% of accredited investors preferring access to private markets via their existing brokerage accounts, the market signals demonstrate clear demand.