WEBVTT - Bloomberg Surveillance TV: September 17th, 2025 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:06.760 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:15.480 This is the Bloomberg Surveillance Podcast. I'm Jonathan Ferrow, along 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:18.720 with Lisa Bromwitz and Amrie Hordernt. Join us each day 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:22.280 for insight from the best in markets, economics, and geopolitics 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:24.880 from our global headquarters in New York City. We are 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:27.680 live on Bloomberg Television weekday mornings from six to nine 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:31.319 am Eastern. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify or 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:33.960 anywhere else you listen, and as always on the Bloomberg 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:37.120 Terminal and the Bloomberg Business App. I'm very pleased to 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:39.120 say that joining us now is the Bank for America 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.600 Chare CEO, Brian moynihan. Brian, of course in London, we're 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:44.440 here in New York. You're actually in our home and 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:48.040 we're in yours. So thank you, sir for making that happen. Brian, 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.120 Let's get to this leadership shake up because we've got 0:00:50.159 --> 0:00:53.000 a lot to talk about. Eight lines of business, two 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:57.120 very prominent individuals in this bank, at this institution. How 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:00.160 do you and the team plan to split up responsibilities. 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.400 Well, it's good to talk to you both, and thank 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:05.280 you for coming. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:06.360 To our great corporate headquarters. 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.840 Hope that they're treating you nicely out there. Look, this 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.800 is a recognition of three teammates, said Dean and Jim 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:15.520 and Alistair, and they contributed to they made to our 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:18.640 company and helping bringing Jim and Dean to help me 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:20.040 leverage across the businesses. 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:21.399 And there's a lot of initiatives we. 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:25.320 Conduct across the company, our growth work streams, our operational. 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:25.559 Excellence, our. 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:29.319 AI initiatives and things, and I've asked them to come 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.280 help me. Meanwhile, it also frees up space for that 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.160 talent group. And you're talking to a lot of today 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.480 what's Lindsay or Eric or Wendy and others that continue 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:39.640 to drive those eight businesses for us and own the 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:41.399 business and own the responsibility for P and L. 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:42.839 And there's a lot of talent that levels. 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.560 So the idea is to bring them to help leverage 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:48.480 my time, leverage a company's time, leverage a company wide initiatives, 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:51.320 and then let that talent that drives those businesses keep 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:52.560 making great progress. 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:56.440 Brian, there is an obvious I have some comfortable questions. 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:58.240 Some people might have responded to this and just thought, 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:00.960 is Brian's setting up for six session or is this 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.320 just about change and how the companies. 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:05.920 Run well long term. 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:07.960 We have one of the duties that I and the 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.519 whole management team owes the board of directors as a 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:12.480 series of candidates that have the experience to run this 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:15.800 company over time. I'm not going anywhere in the short term, 0:02:15.800 --> 0:02:18.639 but in the medium term. But it takes a while 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:20.560 to set that up and get people used to the 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:23.440 size and scale this company. So you all report all 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.760 those ins and outs of succession, but the reality. 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:27.560 Is we're a team and we're driving forward. 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:30.000 There's a lot of talent teammates and the board will 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.720 have to make a decision someday based on the facts 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:33.960 and circumstances at the time. 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.760 Brian, you talk about some of the new initiatives and 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.440 looking forward to the bank, the Dean and the gym 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:45.320 that will be of the future partnering together. I'm wondering 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.600 what you're hoping they can accomplish, whether it's the AI 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:51.920 initiatives or beyond, what kind of projects you're hoping that 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:52.840 they will spearhead. 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:55.760 Well, we have a lot of things going For the 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.520 last six last year, we've been working on some work 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:03.520 streams to help drive expense sufficiency and implementation new technologies 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.239 and at the same time drive growth. How we take 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.360 risk and continue to look at our risk parameters and 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:11.600 so what I'm asking them is to and they've helped 0:03:11.680 --> 0:03:14.040 drive those well, they've been doing our old jobs and 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.000 I've said, come do this full time and that'll give 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.800 us more leverage across the platform. Our company has a 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:20.880 great reach we have, you know, we're all over the 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.200 globe and Bernie Men's and the team here and out 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:24.120 of London run all the. 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:25.560 International businesses for us. 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:27.919 We're in a lot of countries, a lot of teammates 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:30.320 around the world. We just announced a thousand more teammates 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:32.240 that we're building out here in UK and they can 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:35.240 help the company drive that and put the key to 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:37.640 the top of big company of guards is to work 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:41.080 the seams, work the business connections. And so Jimmy this 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:44.440 capabilities as he works for the Wealth Management Group and 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.640 Lindsay and Eric on the clients that we have, especially 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:49.320 in the high you know, the hirer end clients that 0:03:49.400 --> 0:03:52.360 he has relationships with who are hedge fund operators and 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:54.240 things like that. So there's a lot of inities, but 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:58.280 it's it's really about revenue growth, organic revenue growth and 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:02.240 expense efficiency and also thinking through how technology applies. It 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:03.760 just gives me more power at the top of the 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:05.640 house to join us. And these teammates have done a 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:06.120 great job. 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.080 I imagine it's going to be united. From the investor 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:13.160 day in November, the first one in some fifteen years, 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:16.960 you mentioned the CFO now Executive vice president Alistair Borthwick 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.919 said this, the most important thing from our perspective is 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.680 we feel like we've got an opportunity to close a 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.080 relative value gap. Brian, can we talk about that relative 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:29.520 value gap? Where do you think that comes from? What 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:33.120 is it that you think perhaps investors don't fully understand. 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:36.480 Well, as you look at the company, you have a 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.120 greater granted growth engine. So we'll do a million new 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.400 checking households, and our average checking. 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.040 Balances are three times four times industry norm and we're 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:44.640 building that up. 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.200 What we're trying to showcase is what Bank of America 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:49.719 is is an organic growth machine on a very steady 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.719 compounding basis. So if you look at the projection for 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:55.800 our earnings growth rates by the street, they're faster than 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.200 the average company as the balance reprices and things go on. 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.320 But trying to showcase is to put on the table 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.720 basically the metrics that we run this company by across 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:07.720 the eight lines of business and how they work together, 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:10.920 and then the international piece, and then AI and some 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.440 of the other things we work on the payments business, 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:15.360 which is embedded in the lines of business but is 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:16.200 a separate business. 0:05:16.320 --> 0:05:17.760 It really showed three things. 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.560 We have a competitive position that no one else has 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:22.880 where you know, we just announced yesterday with the largest 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:25.640 small business Lenner. We have a competitive growth rate in 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:27.200 the organic growth that's there. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:28.640 And then because of. 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:32.760 Our the dynamics are a NII lift which it will 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:36.240 be growing as we've told people six to seven percent 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:38.200 this year. You're going to see the EPs KEYP kicking 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.599 in and the operating leverage come into the business and 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.760 the return on tandem common equity keeps moving up. 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:44.280 And that's that's when we lay up. 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:47.839 But gears off that good core or granted growth with 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:49.440 the right risk that we drive. 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:50.120 This company by. 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:53.320 Brian as John is just mentioning this is the first 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.719 and fifteen years, why now what changed for you? And 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:57.200 is this going to be a new annual thing? 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:03.040 You know, I think we have thirty five Analystic covers. 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.680 We spend time at all the conferences we spend time individually, 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.400 but think about putting on a table to know where 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:12.359 the company stands right now. As we see after the 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.920 pandemic and after the interest rate changes and after inflation 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:19.760 fights and all that stuff, we see that people putting 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:21.479 on a table where we are in organic growth and 0:06:21.480 --> 0:06:23.720 how it works together is critical, and I think, yeah, 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:25.480 you should expect us to do it more often. 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:28.799 You know, we have a lot of connectivity to the people. 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:31.080 Actually own our stock and talk to them all the time, 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:32.440 but this is a chance to sort of lay it 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:34.400 all out so they can see it together and to 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:36.120 look at some of these initiatis are unique, like our 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:40.080 employee Banking Investment Initiative, our continuum, our Marril Edge through 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:42.640 Merrill Lynch and a private bank, and the ability for 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.240 us to take a customer literally from the first bank 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:49.120 account their entire life, no matter what happens to them. 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:52.280 On an individual side, or a small business for me 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:55.360 today that becomes the largest company world, or an individual 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:57.680 trader that builds up that capability and becomes a hedge 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.240 fund manager. The idea of these continuums and things like 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.240 that are really important, and so we hope to put 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:04.840 that on a table and make sure people see it, 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:06.640 and then we'd annually update it, but sort of put 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:07.719 a baseline on the table. 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.400 So, Brian, it seems like you're moving toward a greater 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.560 degree of transparency or at least availability at a time 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.080 where the President is talking about potentially moving from a 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.640 quarterly reporting system from public companies to a six month 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.040 reporting season, do you think that that would be helpful 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.320 for you as a business manager if you had to 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.360 report less frequently in terms of filing. 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.040 Yeah, At the end of the day, we run the 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.320 company along the principal's responsible growth and how we run it, 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.000 so it won't change how we run the company, may 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.680 change how often we have to talk about it, and inherently, 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:44.400 if you do two times a year versus four times 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.680 a year, you'd save some money and some effort. But 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.160 my guess is our investors are going to demand from 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:52.120 us more constant reporting. So we'll see it all play out. 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:54.760 It's an issue that was talked about over the last 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:56.440 several years. If it's going to get done, it has 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:58.720 to be done the right way. So it remains in 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:01.280 place and we look forward to what comes out of 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:03.880 the SEC and the process. But on the other hand, 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.720 we are very transparent what we do. We put a 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.880 lot of information out there, things like our digital capabilities 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.119 that no one else reports on quite frankly, and again 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:13.960 with the investor Day, we'll be able to show that 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:16.760 and really challenge people say, look, if this is what's 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:18.800 going on. If you've taken a company at three hundred 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.520 thousand people fifteen years ago that has two hundred and 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:24.120 twelve thousand people today and applied that technology, you just 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.440 think as we start to apply AI more fully, we 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.160 already have Erica three billion customer interactions, but as that 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.679 applies more fully, you'll see the ability for us to 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:36.920 continue to manage the headcount and the company well while 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:39.400 the revenue keeps growing. And so I think we'll report 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.920 on that more often than every six months, is my guests. 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.520 Based on the demand of our investors. 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:48.079 Lisa, I imagined some CEOs might welcome this. Yes, even 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:49.560 if some investors done, they. 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:51.480 Might welcome this, but will they be allowed to actually 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:52.640 follow it by their investors? 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:54.520 And that I think is what Brian is alluding to. 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:57.640 I think investors will demand much more transparency. Brian, I 0:08:57.640 --> 0:08:59.560 want to talk about an initiative close to your heart. 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:02.400 The news that we got about fifteen twenty five minutes 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.440 ago that you're increasing the minimum wage to twenty five 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.640 dollars per hour. I remember a very early conversation with you, 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.200 and this is something you're very proud of. This has 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.440 gone up from say fifteen several years ago. Can you 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.920 talk to us about why you've maintained this commitment to 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.480 drive in the minimum wage higher at Banks for America. 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.040 Sure, so, let me set two things up. 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.600 One over the course of today and tomorrow and yesterday, 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:29.240 we've announced a series of insues. 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.360 One is to locate one thousand. 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.080 New teammates in the UK that will work in our 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.400 operations group, and that was announced by Bernie and Tom Scrivener. 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.960 The second one is torease to commit to our military 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:44.079 hiring at Bank of America ten thousand military veterans over 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:44.840 the next five years. 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:45.679 We've done this from time. 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.400 We have about twenty thousand working to increase that. Another 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.920 is to increase eight thousand people from community colleges to 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.280 print an opportunity at Bank of America to further the 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.880 career and get into skills based training. That's a doubling 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:00.240 or tripling of what we do today. And then we're 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:03.480 the seventy five branches that we're deploying and the teammates there. 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:05.880 And the third piece is the minimum wage. 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:07.760 And so we started on a travel a number of 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.040 years ago with a view that to be we want 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:13.440 teammates to come to Bank America with a career mindset, 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.840 so join us. So today we're announcing twenty five dollars 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:19.040 an hour, which is fifty thousand dollars for a starting 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.920 salary across the country and hire in some places where 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:26.120 the prevailing wages are higher. Obviously, but what that gives 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:28.640 a teammate a chance to join our company, spend their 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.120 whole career here, and support their families. So not only 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.120 is it the twenty five dollars an hour minimum starting wage, 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:37.000 it's the benefit structure, which is a full four and 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:40.040 K match, a full benefit costs that we for the 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.560 teammates in the brackets of twenty five dollars an hour. 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.960 We basically dropped their premium coverage and healthcare in twenty 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.760 twelve from five hundred dollars a month to two hundred 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:49.640 and fifty dollars a months. 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:50.240 Our family have. 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:52.640 Never raised it to provide great health care forum and 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.680 then our childcare benefits, so it's a package. So where's 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:57.679 that payback for the investor. Where that pays back to 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:01.040 the investor is the turnover rate. And when we started 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:04.440 this program in the high volume operations groups and the 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:08.840 branches was twenty percent. It's now down to basically tennis percenter. 0:11:08.960 --> 0:11:10.440 So even below that. 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:12.679 That stability in that career mindset allows us to do a 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:14.760 much better job for our clients. And what you've seen 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.360 is the attrition in the term teammates has gone down. 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:19.520 You've seen the attrition the customer's gone down, and you've 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:23.720 seen our customer scores dramatically improve over the last fifteen 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.560 years due to this relentless pursuit to be a career employer. 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:28.880 So yes, we're very proud of twenty five dollars an hour, 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.600 but there's an economic benefit for the shareholder and there's 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.439 a great position for the teammate at the same time. 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.840 Brian, I wonder also what it says about the situation 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:42.520 the current environment. It's very strange that we're going into 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.000 this decision with the Federal Reserve talking about twenty five 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.920 fifty basis points of rate cuts and maybe more. Your 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:51.160 team has talked consistently throughout this morning about the amount 0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:54.520 of resilience they see in the US economy. Payhikes like 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:56.760 this aren't the kind of things you would typically see 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.760 in a recession. What's your sense of just how tight 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.040 a week loose this labor market actually is right now? 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:08.760 Well, I think if you think of twenty three summer, 0:12:08.880 --> 0:12:11.480 you know, the great resignation, it was very tight, then 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.439 it loosened up, and it's more imbalanced now. So our 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:17.360 turn of rate in our company is running about eight percent. 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:20.520 It even in places like tech programmers, of which we 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.720 have thirty forty thousand of them, we're running in double 0:12:24.720 --> 0:12:27.200 digits is now and three four percent. And what that 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:29.079 shows you the bin in the markets different, which then 0:12:29.120 --> 0:12:31.120 shows you people being more careful at headcount. And you 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:32.720 heard some of my colleagues talk to you about that. 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:33.480 So I think the. 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.520 Unemployment rate is still low, but I think businesses are 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:38.480 being much more careful in management a headcount for. 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:39.320 A number of reasons. 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:42.040 One is to get by understanding how all the policies 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:44.440 are coming at and fit together. I'm talking about US 0:12:44.480 --> 0:12:48.320 businesses mainly, and then secondly, they're also making sure that 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.160 they're careful. And I heard some of my colleagues talk 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.120 to you about this earlier. As you think about this 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:55.080 application of technology, we know what this does. We have 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.160 half as many people work in the consumer business, and 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:01.440 did we did a decade decade plus ago. We have 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:04.120 half as many people working operations. We know that as 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.920 these technologies could apply to our legal department, our account 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:11.240 our finance department under alistair, our risk department, teammates. We 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:13.920 know that if we manage the headcount carefully, we will 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:15.960 do it. So we look at headcount very carefully and say, 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.040 don't hire people unless you really need them, not because 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:21.319 we're trying to save money, because frankly, from a human 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.760 management capabilities, we don't want to have people who won't. 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:25.640 Be able to have a career here. 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:28.120 So we just hired two thousand plus kids from school, 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.160 so we brought in all those new talent. We'll hire 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:33.280 these ten thousand veterans, we'll hire these eight thousand people 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:35.800 from community college. But each month we get the right 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:37.600 to make a decision on whether we're going to hire 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:39.120 about thirteen to fifteen hundred people. 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:40.920 And we're just managing that very carefully. 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:43.240 So I think we're an example of what's going on 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:44.319 to broad a labor market. 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:45.240 You heard Wendy and. 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:47.559 My colleagues talk about it. All the companies are trying 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.200 to manage us and make sure they get the headcount 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.559 right because that is a major expense for a lot 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:53.000 of firms. 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.600 Brian, about a year ago you were talking to us 0:13:56.640 --> 0:14:00.679 about the ramifications of AI and the explosion of efficiency, 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.800 and you said that you think that headcount could remain 0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:06.319 about the same at the bank even as the business 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:10.559 continue to expand, just in total size. I'm wondering if 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.320 that's shifted, if you still see that as the natural 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:17.480 progression of the relationship between the adoption of machine based 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.360 learning and the relationship to your headcount. 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.120 So there are two things that one, I think the 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:26.120 time we were talking, we are probably closer two hundred 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.800 and sixteen seventeen thousand people or two hundred thirteen thousand, 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:30.840 So I think we'll be managing this down. 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:32.040 But remember, at the same. 0:14:31.880 --> 0:14:36.080 Time we're managing out through operational excellence and efficiencies of 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:39.600 applied technology. We are now we are deploying, so we're 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:42.640 adding when he's added commercial bankers and all the markets 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.480 and sharing a team added business bankers and all the markets, 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:50.520 and Katie and Lindsay and Eric adding financial advisors and 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.560 private bankers. So we're adding front end people, sales traders, 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:56.400 et cetera. To keep building out our capabilities, and so 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.320 there's a reinvestment going on. The key to that is 0:14:59.360 --> 0:15:02.760 really to read a eploying people and reskilling them. So 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.440 when we bring these two thousand plus teammates and who 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:07.160 just joined us in the last month and a half, 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.760 we have to be more mindful about training them along 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.320 multiple dimensions than we might have been two or three 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.800 years ago. So I think, yes, I think ultimately the 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:19.000 human being content of our work product would probably come down, 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.840 but if we manage it right, it'll be flat to 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:23.680 the same amount of people, maybe down a little bit, 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.360 but all paid more and all being applied to the 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:29.480 highest value tasks where frankly, the machines can't do the work. 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:30.920 And that's the important thing. 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.400 We know these We know what this AI can do 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:35.920 in today's world. Erica has been out there for seven years, 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.160 three billion customer interactions, twenty million customers using. 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:41.600 It all the time. We see what it could do. 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:43.400 We took that and put it in our commercial business 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:45.360 We took that and put it in our internal process. 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:49.040 We got other models to help in Jimmy DeMar's business 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.360 in terms of a thing called optimists and things like that. 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.880 There's a lot of out there, but what you're learning 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.680 is is still augmented intelligence and that will be what's 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:00.360 driving the near term efficiency. So yes, I think the 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.880 headcount management is one of the core tasks that managers 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:03.280 have to take. 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:08.160 Seriously, I'm just wondering, Brian, as you train all of 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:09.680 these new students, how do you make sure that they 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:11.840 stay with you and don't go to some of your 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.520 brethren across the way in the private asset sphere. 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:22.360 Well, we provide them a good opportunity and look, they 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.080 can go other places, but we've been able to retain enough. 0:16:25.600 --> 0:16:28.560 We're completely happy and look even for our clients. 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:30.440 Frankly, if they. 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:32.280 Hire our teammates, it's not the worst thing that happens 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.280 in all our businesses. But the roality is is that 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.280 we want these teammates to have a career mindset. In October, 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.320 I'll celebrate our teammates have been with our company fifty years, 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:44.000 fifty five years, sixty years, et cetera. And you hear 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.680 their stories and their stories of I joined this company, 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:51.200 I worked in a summer internship, I came may even. 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:52.479 Work part time during college. 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.280 I became a full time employee and I started doing 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:58.720 this and now I do that. And those are wonderful stories, 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:00.960 and we have them tell those stories to our teammates 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:02.960 to show you that you can have a long term 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:04.879 career at a company like ours. And that's what we 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:06.800 want our teammates to come in with. They may not 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:09.879 stay in trading or investment banking or corporate banking, but 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:12.440 they'll have long term capabilities here. 0:17:12.560 --> 0:17:13.159 And you've seen that. 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:15.560 Even top of house Alistair was a capital market sead 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:17.800 and now he's the CFO, and so that goes on 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:18.920 throughout the company. 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:22.119 They swear an oath of allegiance, yes exactly, and you 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:23.280 see them lining up this morning. 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:25.840 That gave in before they come. 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:27.880 In, I promise on my capushino, which is very good. 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.399 By the way, Brian, I want to talk about the 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:31.639 main fan that takes place later on this afternoon. 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:33.119 I'm not going to ask for your guests. 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:35.520 I know how much you respect the team behind me 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.040 and some of the official forecast of the bank. I 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:41.040 once to understand from your perspective, looking across the eight 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.960 lines of business, whether you see an economy market activity 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.240 that demands of rate cut from this Furer reserve. 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:51.760 Well, you've had the benefit of all our experts, and 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.720