BofA vs Citi (Future Outlook)

This isn't a ranking thread by any means - but am curious to hear from people as to which firm is in a better position for the next 10 years or so. Reason I am asking is because both firms seem to be very similar in many aspects. However, Citi's presence globally seems to be unmatched. Interested to hear how people think they will progress.

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How's JPM globally and HSBC domestically? My impression is that JPM exited out of a lot of global business (if we're talking overall bank) so they can't go toe-to-toe with Citi like BofA can on a global scale. At the same time, BofA is strong in middle market ($2B revenue) and it makes sense to compare JPM v. Citi for those +$2B clients.

HSBC is a contender in certain markets but I'd compare them to the strong regional banks like Barclays.

 

I was under the impression that HSBC is very strong domestically as well. But to OP's point, BofA vs Citi in terms of IB is a toss up IMO. Both could grow a considerable amount in the next years maybe even taking the place of JPM?

 
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If we look at the last years we would see that BofA has consolidated itself as a real competitor to be in top3 in both M&A, ECM and DCM, and thats their main priority right now, to be able to reach that on a constant basis. They did actually state that its their main goal in the short-mid term to secure their top3 positions in all these core products across the globe.

Regarding to Citi it has also kept growing but not at the same speed across all regions, but its still a top player in its core regions, and is growing in sectors/regions in which it used to be weaker.

Both are investing heavily to surpass JP/MS in the following years, will they be able to do it? Probably one of them is able to reach top3, will it happen in the next 10 years? Who knows...

Citi and BofA will keep reducing the breach from the top3, market share gains keep coming year by year, but both are still far from doing, currently BofA a little bit closer but not that much difference.

I personally prefer BofA, but I hate its new name, Merrill Lynch was so fancy and such a good branding. Anyways, you cant be wrong with any of these bets!

 

How can anyone project 10 years? Two of the top four banks from a little over ten years ago no longer exist. Moelis was three years old and the entire boutique advisory landscape looked dramatically different because prop trading had barely been outlawed and the European banks werent yet crushed by capital requirement ring-fencing.

Citi and BofA are both great banks. One trend we are seeing is that the top players want cheaper funding, see Goldman trying to start a consumer bank for example. MS already has wealth management funding but their balance sheet cant compete with JPM, BofA, Citi. If anything, I think MS and GS try to be more like JPM, BofA, and Citi than the other way around. How that could affect anyone's position would take a psychic.

 

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