London, 14 August 2009 

Bank of America Corp., the biggest US lender, may expand its metals and energy team by 25 percent in the next two to three years as a rebound in commodities attracts billions of dollars of investments according to a Bloomberg report. 

The bank, which bought Merrill Lynch & Co. for $29 billion in January, already hired people in China, Singapore, India and Japan, David Goodman, co-head of global commodities, said by phone from London Aug. 7. The commodities group is now about 600 people, people familiar with the matter said.

While Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, cut 46,150 jobs since credit markets began to freeze two years ago, the company needs to add staff to profit from trading commodities, which rose 32 percent since March. Commodity assets under management in mutual funds, indexes and exchange-traded products rose about 19 percent to $209 billion in the second quarter, according to Barclays Plc, which plans to hire about 20 commodity traders in the next year.

“We are also seeing a return of investor appetite in our space,” Goodman said. “People are looking for exposure to these markets.”

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