Bank of America Loses Bankers, Tells Staff of Big Ambition, Continued Hiring

3-line summary

• Bank of America has lost several senior investment bankers to JPMorgan, including Amy Lissauer (a top activist-defense leader who considered leaving in August 2026 despite CEO Brian Moynihan's retention efforts), Mike Joo and Ed Liu (departed the same week as Lissauer), Kevin Brunner (a tech dealmaker known for the Salesforce relationship, announced late 2025), and David Fishman (16-year TMT M&A co-head, set to join JPMorgan later this year), according to Reuters.
• At an August 10 meeting with about 50 vice presidents and directors, executives including co-head Faiz Ahmad reassured staff of full commitment to climbing league-table rankings and continued senior tech-banker hiring; corporate and investment banking president Matthew Koder said in an internal August memo the bank had hired more than 40 new managing directors this year, and a spokesperson said senior MD hires have outpaced departures.
• The departures come as BofA's investment banking fee ranking stood at 4th in both 2025 and 2026 per Dealogic, down from 3rd in 2022-2024 after Morgan Stanley rose on the AI boom; BofA highlighted underwriting $818 billion in AI-related capital markets financing since 2026 and its second-highest-ever first-half investment banking fees. Some bankers cited deferred-compensation-heavy bonus structures as easing rivals' poaching efforts, while the company pointed to strong results and advisory work including Paramount Skydance's acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.

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