Bank of America Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Summary

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : <_ALACRA_META_ABSTRACT>Anyway, so let's start off with just your take on the macroeconomic backdrop. We've obviously just had the Fed just came out. But I'm curious about how you're thinking about the path for the economy next year, what you're seeing in terms of consumer and corporate engagement heading into 2026? And I think you have some of the best spending data and I think you do some of the best analytics around it. What have you seen over the fourth quarter? And what does that tell you about the outlook for next year? Brian Moynihan - Bank of America Corp - Chairman of the Board, President, Chief Executive Officer Well, so thanks, Rich, for having me. The first thing is our team had the Fed cutting rates today. So I guess they got that one right. Yes, I think it was a little surprised about the dot plots and what happens next year. But if you look at -- our team has the economy and the US is growing 2.4% or so next year, that from this time last year to now, isn't a lot changed. But in between, if they dropped 100 basis points off the growth rate Liberation Day, all that stuff and then put it back. And so you kind of got around this trip. I think the certainty the path forward from six months ago to now is higher because the trade and tariff has largely worked through the system in terms of people's understanding of what will happen. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2025 / 8:00PM, BAC.N - Bank of America Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference I think taxes is done. So I think immigration deregulation are the issues that are still working through. And I think business looks at that and says, I've got some basics right now. I can invest. They're still worried about making sure the immigration gets settled down, so they have the workforce they need to do their work. It's what the clients tell us all over the country. And our small business survey show that labor availability is becoming a bigger issue. It was that a few years ago, then inflation, and now it's back to that. And that's just if you're a lot of the services-related business or construction business or things like that, getting workers. Our consumers in the month of November across all different things, so Liz Everett was on CNBC, she talks about the credit in debit card because they can track that most carefully. But if you look across the whole platform, that's about 20%, 25% of the money movement across the whole platform in a year, it's about $4.5 billion, $5 trillion, $70 million consumers, putting money in the economy. That is up 4.3% November this year versus November last year. If you think of that in a historical context, that's consistent with the 2%-plus growth rate in the economy. The way they're spending the money has a little bit of the elements of the key economy to it. Not as much as people think, if you actually watch what's happened in the last few months in three terciles. The bottom tercile has been growing at a slower rate, still growing. Top tercile growing at a faster rate, has been keeping that rate. It's the middle one, it's moved more -- a little bit less to the higher growth rate of the upper end and above the lower. And that's just a recent phenomenon. So that number was 5% in October, 4.5% in November. But I wouldn't overly read into a 0.5% movement because weekends, how the calendar works can affect all that. So consumer is a good shape. Our credit quality improved in the quarter -- last quarter. It's still there. It's good. Small businesses are fine. They're making money. Middle-sized companies credit quality is strong. They're still using their lines at a lesser rate than they did pre-pandemic. And that's probably an indication of -- it cost for, honestly, the biggest beneficiary of a lower Fed funds rate is a lower SOFR rate and therefore, a lower rate for middle market and small business borrowers. It's counter two of the consumer because mortgages are locked in. It's really more beneficial that group. So we'll see if they start using the lines a little more aggressively, but they're all fine credit quality is good. So we're very constructive. And in the capital markets side, I'll participate in that. I think as you look -- we think it's a constructive time and deals are getting done and people are out there [doing] on stuff. It's all pretty good. The derailments or all the existential issues you can have, connectors, rate structure, people not getting the Fed rate path right or the Fed not getting it right hyperinflation, all debt and all that stuff. But over -- in '26, we see pretty good shape.

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay. So you just had the Investor Day, I think it was a month -- pretty much a month ago, right, just over a month ago. You set out both broader targets for the firm. You gave a very significant number of KPIs by business. From your perspective, what are the two or three main points coming out of the Investor Day that you want to reiterate? But the other thing I wanted to ask is, I know you spent time with investors since the Investor Day, what do you think is most underappreciated in terms of the message that you wanted to get across?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay. So the plan does incorporate a significant pickup in growth rates and market shares in a number of businesses. So a couple of questions here. I mean, the first is, do you feel the current distribution footprint and platforms are set up for the growth from here? LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2025 / 8:00PM, BAC.N - Bank of America Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference And then secondly, look, a lot of your peers do seem to be leaning into growth. Obviously, one of your peers announced a step-up in terms of strategic and investment spend yesterday. Can you talk a little bit about the competitive environment, what you've seen in the competitor environment so far this year and how you're expecting that to unfold next year?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : And then on the competitive environment, I mean, what have you actually seen? And what are you expecting? And then I guess, look, added to that, obviously, regional bank consolidation is obviously a big theme. Is that an opportunity for you because those organizations become inward focus as they integrate? Or is it a threat because they actually have more scale? How do you think about that?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : So let's talk about efficiency. It's everybody's favorite topic, and you gave a lot of data around this, and I think it's very encouraging. You talked about getting the efficiency ratio back below 60% near term into the high 50s, sustained operating leverage of 200 to 300 basis points. LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2025 / 8:00PM, BAC.N - Bank of America Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Talk us through what the efficiency agenda looks like from here, where you see the greatest opportunities. And obviously, look, AI is still a very, very dominant theme. I mean, do you think that AI will allow you to reduce the expense base in absolute terms, not necessarily in the next one to two years, but as you think out over the next three to five years?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay. So 16% to 18% ROTC. I think you said you plan to get to the lower end in two years, the higher end in three years. How should we think about the improvement in returns from here? I mean, is it linear over that time period? Or is it more back-end loaded? So maybe talk a little bit about the nearer term versus the longer term

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay. So nearer term, can you just give us some high-level thoughts on the fourth quarter? Has anything changed since you last spoke either in terms of NII or trading? Is there anything we should be aware of in terms of credit and expenses? How is the fourth quarter shaping up?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay. So you mentioned the credit picture. But anything that you've seen of note in terms of early delinquencies. And then I guess -- and I think the bigger picture question here is on the consumer side, in particular, asset quality has improved despite some of the weaker data from retailers and restaurants. Why do you think we're seeing this divergence between the banks and some of these other data points?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Would you expect it to decline from those levels on -- LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2025 / 8:00PM, BAC.N - Bank of America Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay. So I'm going to talk about a couple of your growth initiatives in a second. But just on the loan growth side, can you just touch on what you're seeing on the commercial side and the commercial real estate side? Does seem that some of your peers are talking about that inflecting heading into next year? And then the other thing I would be curious and getting your views on is OCC rescinded some of the rules around levered lending. Does that in any way impact how you think about the opportunity set in commercial lending over the next few years?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : And it just improves simplicity.

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay. So credit card and growth in the card business is one of the drivers to the improvement in the return of the consumer business. It does feel like that is a particularly competitive space. Obviously, you've had a number of refreshes, a number of people looking to grow that. What do you think is your key differentiator in terms of growing the card business from here?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : And then a similar question on the wealth business. I mean, you've obviously got great brand, great franchise, but it is a step-up in growth relative to the past. Again, what is it that you're going to do?

Question: Richard Ramsden - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst : Okay. So we've got a couple of minutes left. Let's talk about capital. You set out a 10.5% CET1 target. A couple of questions here. I mean, the first is, can you talk about the path to the 10.5% in terms of increased deployment versus capital returns to shareholders? LSEG STREETEVENTS | www.lseg.com | Contact Us consent of LSEG. 'LSEG' and the LSEG logo are registered trademarks of LSEG and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 10, 2025 / 8:00PM, BAC.N - Bank of America Corp at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Second, look, there's obviously more regulatory reform to come. So do you think that 10.5% could change after we get the Basel III endgame G-SIB recalibration? And then lastly, can you talk about your appetite for inorganic growth for acquisitions as a way of accelerating what I think is a really good organic growth story?