The GWIM group's pre-tax margin for 2018 was 28.3 per cent, widening from 26.8 per cent a year earlier, the banking group said.

In the fourth quarter, net income rose by 32 per cent for the year to $4.1 billion, helped by strong client activity, and a lower number as a result of the impact of President Donald Trump's package of tax reforms, including changes to taxation of corporations, last year.

The were inflows of $56 billion last year, $42 billion higher than a year earlier, BoA said.

In the fourth quarter, however, there were $6.0 billion of outflows from the firm, as heightened market sentiment made investors nervous, encouraging a shift towards deposits. Overall, client balances of $2.6 trillion fell by 5 per cent year-on-year, as fourth-quarter market flows took a toll.

Total wealth advisors across GWIM – including the Merrill Lynch, US Trust and Merrill Edge business segments – grew by 1 per cent year-on-year with a total of 19,459 at the end of the year, compared with 19,238 at the end of 2017.

Segments
At the US Trust segment, revenues rose by 2.4 per cent year-on-year in Q4, at $865 million, a quarterly record. Full-year revenue at more than $3.4 billion rose by 4 per cent from 2017. Gross new client relationships rose by 9 per cent last year from a year before. Client balances of $427 billion fell by more than $28 billion or by 6 per cent compared with the prior quarter due to market declines.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management reported a record full-year revenue of $15.9 billion - a rise of $607 million or 4 per cent, year-on-year. Gross new household acquisition by Merrill Lynch advisors rose by 63 per cent compared with 2017 – with experienced advisors adding an average of 4.6 new relationships per advisor. The productivity of nearly $1.36 million per experienced advisor is up by 3.4 per cent compared with Q4 2017. The total advisor productivity of $1.05 million also increased by 5 per cent compared with Q4 2017.