The US bank’s structured products sales have been on a steady decline since 2019 after a 25% fall year on year at the end of 2020.

BofA sales of structured products remained subdued during the first quarter of 2021 at US$857m (187 products) despite almost doubling its structured product issuance compared with the same period a year prior (US$764m/92 products).

SRP data shows that the bank’s structured product sales varied throughout the entire year of 2020 hitting a record low during the second quarter with a mere 37 products valued at US$514m.

This figure rebounded the following quarter reaching 106 products with a sales figure of US$702m. However, sales plummeted once again in the final quarter of the year totaling US$487m despite a steady increase in issuance.

As a distributor, the bank led by chief executive officer and chairman Brian Moynihan (pictured) is one of the top US distributor groups on the SRP league table having distributed a total of 280 structured products at US$2.8 billion in Q1 21, compared with 156 products valued at US$3.3 billion in Q1 20.

The bank’s retail network has registered four of the 10 best-selling products so far this year – all S&P 500-linked autocall structures which sold a combined US$360m.

Of the 91 live domestically structured products issued by Bank of America listed on SRP’s database, the majority were distributed by Bank Leumi (US$456m/21 products), Merrill Lynch (US$326m/23 products), BofA (US$255m/24 products), and Incapital (US$226m/22).

The Constant Maturity Swap Rate emerged as the most popular underlying with 44 products worth US$728m. The DJ Industrial Average Index followed closely behind with 14 products valued at US$246m while the S&P500 was tied to 22 structured products valued at US$198m.

Financial highlights

Bank of America boosted its net income which stood at US$8.1 billion at the end of the first quarter, compared with US$5.5 billion in Q4 20 and US$4 billion in Q1 20.

Revenue, net of interest expense, increased by 0.2% to US$22.8 billion while net interest income declined by 16% to US$10.2 billion, largely driven by lower interest rates.

Noninterest income rose by 19% to US$12.6 billion, reflecting strong capital markets results, as well as greater investment and brokerage income.

Provision for credit losses dropped to US$6.6 billion to a benefit of US$1.9 billion, reflecting a reserve release of US$2.7 billion amid the improved macroeconomic outlook.

Risk-weighted assets stand at US$1.5 trillion in comparison to US$1.48 trillion in the previous quarter and US$1.56 trillion in Q1 20.

Click here to view the bank’s Q1 21 results.