World-class prime brokerage that soars above | Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Strength, stability, commitment, creativity. In prime brokerage, these are the keys to outperformance. Precisely what Bank of America Merrill Lynch is well positioned to deliver. Around the world, we coordinate our efforts across equity and fixed-income financing, repo, and futures to provide quality service and superior liquidity. Dedicating our talents to bringing you a wide range of insightful solutions, alpha-generating strategies and cross-asset class offerings few can match. Committing ourselves to helping you skillfully outmaneuver even the most agile competitors. And ultimately, powering you ahead.

“The newly combined Bank of America Merrill Lynch encompasses a world-class global equity franchise that includes a leading global prime brokerage business. This multi asset class securities financing platform is a core component of our overall platform and is integral to our client offering. We are fully committed to further integrating and enhancing our prime brokerage offering to ensure we remain a premier provider of financing solutions to our clients.” - Tom Montag, President of Global Markets

Insightful Solutions

Delivering quality service and a seamless client experience

Coordinating our efforts across equity and fixed-income financing, repo, and futures is key, as demonstrated by various survey results:

Global Custodian, Spring 2009
“Top Rated” honors in $10B+, Multi-Strategy and Single PB
16 Best in class honors in financing and margining
9 best in class honors in client service, ahead of global benchmark

International Securities Finance Equity Lending Survey, September 2009
Bank of America Merrill Lynch ranked 3rd overall, 1st in overall footprint, 1st in EMEA footprint and 1st as the borrower to watch in the Americas region.

Global Finance 2009
Bank of America Merrill Lynch named the 2009 "Best Equity Derivatives Provider in North America"

Financial Times/StarMine
Ranked #1 Global Broker, #1 US Broker; #2 Europe Broker and #5 Pan-Asia Broker; received 42 individual analyst awards (May 2009)
Ranked #1 in the U.S., #2 in Latin America, #2 in Asia Pacific ex-Japan, #3 in Developed Europe in the 2009 for earnings forecasts; Ranked #4 in Asia Pacific ex-Japan, and #5 in Latin America in the 2009 for Stock Recommendations

Alpha Magazine
Ranked #3 by hedge funds in survey for All-Asia research teams

Thomson Reuters Extel
#1 for Pan-European Equity Sectors Rsch; #2 for Pan-European Equity & Equity Linked Rsch; #2 for Continental European Small & Mid Caps Rsch

Levered ETFs -Trends, Misconceptions, and Market Impact

Leveraged/inverse ETFs have exploded over the past year, with a combined market cap of about $30 bln AUM, 5% market share, and now over 100 short, leveraged-short and leveraged long ETF strategies. However, according to Banc of America Securities - Merrill Lynch closed-end fund & equity derivatives research, the investment community as a whole may not fully understand the mechanics of these products; nor its impact on prices, volumes, and volatility. Whether you're a hedge fund or a mutual fund, you may want to read our global research piece entitled “Inverse & Leveraged ETFs: Current trends, their properties, and impact on the market”. Contact your service representative or email prime@ml.com to obtain a copy.

Newly Automated SWIFT Accord Trade Matching System

Prime brokerage clients can now match their OTC trades via the Bank of America Merrill Lynch newly launched SWIFT Accord. The industry-wide, centralized utility platform, developed in conjunction with SWIFT, pre-matches trades between prime brokers, executing brokers, and third party administrators. The solution automates the current manual process for pre-matching trades and enables identification and resolution of errors on T+1 rather than settlement day minus 1. In turn, allowing brokers to reduce costs and risks associated with trade failures. Clients wishing to sign-up for the new service should contact their account manager.

Prime Strategies

The Market in Motion - Building the Organization to Support the 130/30 Opportunity

The extension of traditional long-only investment managers into the alternative investment space can now be considered a well-documented phenomenon. The gap between traditional managers and hedge funds continues to narrow.

The Multi-Prime Broker Environment - Overcoming the Challenges and Reaping the Benefits

Transitioning to multi-prime does have its tactical challenges, but the decision is ultimately a strategic one.

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World-class prime brokerage that soars above.