Merrill Lynch Is Recruiting Again—And Brian Moynihan Wants 'The Most Aggressive Targets'

After largely sitting out the recruiting wars since 2017, Merrill Lynch is back in the game with aggressive hiring targets and a goal of pushing its wealth unit's profit margin from 25% to 30%.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan made it official at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference this month: Merrill Lynch is back in the recruiting business, and the firm isn't planning to be subtle about it.

"We just have tremendous client opportunities and referrals from the commercial business and the consumer business," Moynihan told attendees. "We didn't have the capacity." He confirmed that Merrill co-presidents Lindsay Hans and Eric Schimpf have "put the most aggressive targets on the table" to grow the advisor roster and push the wealth unit's profit margin from roughly 25% to 30%.

The shift marks the end of a nearly six-year retreat from experienced advisor recruiting that began in 2017 under former wealth chief Andy Sieg. During that period, Merrill focused almost exclusively on its training program—currently housing over 2,400 participants—and organic growth. External recruiting restarted slowly in 2022 and accelerated in late 2023, but Moynihan's comments represent the most forceful public commitment to the strategy yet.

Why Now?

The answer is arithmetic. Merrill's advisor roster stabilized at roughly 15,000 across the wealth unit, but client demand has outpaced capacity. Bank of America's 67 million consumer banking relationships generate a constant stream of referrals that need advisor attention. Without more experienced advisors to handle high-net-worth referrals, the firm was leaving revenue on the table.

The timing is also strategic. UBS's compensation debacle has flooded the market with experienced advisor talent, and Merrill's competitors—particularly Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley—have been aggressively snapping up teams. Merrill's recent wins include a $1 billion UBS broker in New York and a $1.9 billion Raymond James broker in Los Angeles, both recruited in 2025.

The Results So Far

Early indicators suggest the strategy is working. Merrill's wealth unit generated $20.7 billion in revenue in 2024—an annual record and a 9% year-over-year increase. Loans to wealth clients hit $264 billion, up 13%, and custom lending balances surged 29%. Advisor attrition has dropped to 3.1%, below the historical 4% average.

But the firm still faces headwinds. Large teams continue to leave—a $3 billion team departed for Wells Fargo in late 2025—and the training program, while producing more productive graduates, can't replace the revenue that experienced departures take with them. Moynihan acknowledged as much, framing the recruiting push as a complement to, not a replacement for, the development pipeline.

For advisors evaluating their options, Merrill's re-entry into recruiting means one more deep-pocketed competitor at the negotiating table. Given the firm's banking platform and client referral network, the deals they're offering may be particularly attractive for advisors who see cross-selling as a growth lever.