Does cross-selling work? Bank of America (BAC) added $24.3B (a 28% increase) in new 401(k)...

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gwynfryn Comments (1528)
 
It works for someone (but not necessarily the client)!
19 Feb, 10:17 AM Reply Like

benitus Comments (785)
 
For a bank, deposits are its lifeline, so it goes without saying that it'll always work when a bank gets more deposits of one kind or another. The question is whether the bank is able to earn more revenue with the new deposits. The days are long gone when banks typically make 5% per month on their investments (that was when they were paying double-digit interest on deposits). Nowadays, they would be very good and lucky if they can make 1%pm returns. If they dabble again in risky financial instruments, then they are toast. In the past, they used to let investment firms take the risk of investing their funds but when they saw how much these investment firms were making, they got greedy and managed the trading themselves. In so doing, they got badly burned, so one can only hope that they will engage specialists to manage the risks involved for them (instead of doing everything themselves) and make solid long-term returns with their new deposits
19 Feb, 12:56 PM Reply Like

gwynfryn Comments (1528)
 
Some hope ben; do you see any evidence that any of the bad guys have learnt from their experiences? Looks to me like it has only made them more eager to try harder; after all, they've also learned that they will not go to jail...
20 Feb, 09:51 AM Reply Like

benitus Comments (785)
 
Well, for a start, gwynfryn, the banks have got rid of several bad apples (maybe, playing musical chairs) and the feds got some as well. By and large, it's obvious that bad guys don't really vanish for good because they will either make a comeback or there're others waiting on the wings to get in (even if they're fresh, eventually, they will turn bad, to some extent, due to the power of greed). In any case, so long as the perpetrators are no longer in charge, then there's hope for the banks to recover but after some years, something else will come by again. We can't stay on the sidelines if we want to make us some money, so go with the flow but don't stick your neck out too far.
21 Feb, 03:19 PM Reply Like

gwynfryn Comments (1528)
 
That would be nice ben, but with the exception of food preservation (the inert atmosphere processing is terrific) everywhere I look I see things deteriorating, including the banking sector.
22 Feb, 09:34 AM Reply Like