Wall Street’s banner year looks like it’ll go out on a high note, even as the global pandemic rages.
The heads of the two largest U.S. lenders, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp., told investors that their investment-banking and trading divisions would notch a strong performance in the fourth quarter as economic activity stayed fairly resilient in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.
Bank of America’s global markets business, led by Jim DeMare, “is going to have very good earnings this year,” Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said a virtual conference Wednesday. Its investment-banking division, run by Matthew Koder, is expected to report fees of as much as $1.7 billion for the last three months of 2020, 10% to 15% higher than a year earlier, Moynihan said.
JPMorgan’s trading and investment-banking businesses are each on track to generate 20% more revenue in the fourth quarter than they did in the same period last year, CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday at the event. That would put trading revenue at $5.9 billion, capping a record year for the group.
The world’s largest lenders have touted their fortress balance sheets as a show of strength during the pandemic. As the health crisis roiled markets and hurt consumer businesses, Wall Street trading units benefited from a surge in volatility and client activity. The five biggest U.S. investment banks are on pace for their first $100 billion year for trading revenue in more than a decade.
--With assistance from Michelle F. Davis.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.