Bank of America chief executive Brian Moynihan named a new leadership team in what looks like the start of a horserace to find his successor — but the bank boss also signaled he’d like to keep his job until 2030.
In a Monday announcement, the 65-year-old Moynihan said that he had appointed Dean Athanasia, head of regional banking, and Jim DeMare, head of global markets, as group co-presidents.
Chief financial officer Alastair Borthwick has also been promoted to the role of executive vice-president, a statement from the BofA CEO said, adding that he would serve as “a strategic advisor” to the bank’s management team.
“Over the last 15 years, Dean and Jim have each served as leaders, strategists, and stewards of growth,” he said. “Together, they have nearly 60 years of experience in financial services across every client segment, market, function, and industry.”
Of Borthwick, Moynihan said, “His financial stewardship and broad leadership have been instrumental to our progress. Through his tenure as CFO, we have strengthened every major aspect of our balance sheet.”
But the Brown University alum also stressed that he planned to remain in the top job until at least the end of the decade, having taken over the reins in 2010 to steer BofA through the fallout of the global financial crisis.
That’s a prospect that — as previously reported by The Post — hasn’t pleased everybody on Wall Street.
“It’s nice to want to continue as the CEO for five more years, but there’s increasing pressure to improve performance and stock price,” said Mike Mayo, banking analyst at Wells Fargo.
Areas in need of improvement include the corporate and investment bank, the private bank and Merrill Lynch, Mayo added.
The Post’s Charlie Gasparino reported last October of internal rumblings among senior BofA staff over the perception that Moynihan brought any overly-conservative, lawyerly approach to running the company.
“Frustrated staffers point to a plodding management style and aversion to take the right kind of risk, particularly on the trading desk to support big corporate clients and their banking deals,” Gasparino wrote.
He also revealed that failure to change could leave BofA exposed to a possible activist investor takeover.
BofA shares are up 15% year-to-date, trailing a 28% rise in shares of bigger rival JPMorgan Chase. The S&P bank index has gained 20% so far this year.
Bank of America is set to report its latest quarterly results on Oct. 15, three weeks before its 2025 investor day on Nov. 5 that takes place in Boston.
