AI investment, Iran war impact, and Asia opportunities (with Haslinda Amin)

BofA's Bernard Mensah: AI investment is real with proven use cases (fraud, virtual assistants), but ROI on data centers is uncertain. Iran war is an inflation shock (Europe +140bps), not a growth killer; oil's GDP share is 4-5% vs 9% in 1970s. Bullish on Asia: tech (robotics, biotech), private credit, and capital flows despite energy dependence. Private credit $25B starts in US, not rushing.

Yields

NDX

RUT

explicit

Metals

USD

Bank of America 9.0
Investment Bank $3040.00B
Bernard Mensah 9.0

AI investment, Iran war impact, and Asia opportunities (with Haslinda Amin)

wti

We see an inflation shock coming through. You can make an argument on the current trajectory and imply what you think the duration of the conflict might be. Some people might assume a July/August settlement.

3/19/2026 6:22:02 PM	short term sharp up	5 days later	-8.14%	-12.21%
3/16/2026 5:06:11 PM	short term sharp up	6 days later	-8.40%	-12.60%
2/11/2026 2:09:22 PM	medium term cautious down	20 days later	+18.81%	-9.40%
12/9/2025 3:07:36 PM	medium term cautious down	20 days later	-0.87%	+0.44%
10/24/2025 9:17:59 PM	short term cautious up	7 days later	-0.42%	-0.21%
10/6/2025 2:28:34 PM	short term cautious down	5 days later	-3.50%	+1.75%
9/15/2025 10:19:56 PM	short term cautious up	6 days later	-2.91%	-1.46%

Show all wti results

How is Bank of America capitalizing on AI and how will that shape the bank in five years?

Haslinda Amin
Bernard Mensah

We've been at this for many years. AI is being used across fraud detection, customer onboarding, global markets activities, and consumer banking. Technology previously automated systems but kept headcount stable as people moved to providing more structured solutions to clients.

We have 60-70 million consumer clients in the US using our virtual assistants and AI-generated assistants more every year, with billions of interactions.
How are your clients looking at the Iran war? Are they looking past it?

Haslinda Amin
Bernard Mensah

Everybody is figuring out what it means. Our research has revised down growth estimates in the US and around the world slightly, and revised up inflation more than 140 basis points in Europe. We see an inflation shock coming through. Companies are trying to figure out what it means for supply chains and input costs.

You can make an argument on the current trajectory and imply what you think the duration of the conflict might be. Some people might assume a July/August settlement.
Are capital flows coming to Asia despite its dependence on Middle East oil?

Haslinda Amin
Bernard Mensah

Energy as an input cost is about 4-5% of GDP now versus 9% in the 1970s. The energy shock is coming through, but all the other growth opportunities around Asia - talent, infrastructure, emergence of new companies - will remain. I remain really bullish on Asia.

Asia has historically been an exporter of capital due to high savings rates. There is a lot of interest in how Asia is evolving, with new corporate ways of catering to the Asian consumer and growth in capital markets.
Bank of America is committing $25 billion to private credit. Where and why?

Haslinda Amin
Bernard Mensah

We'll start in the US where we have our great customer base, but we're looking globally. The discussion and speculation around private credit means people are thinking through pricing and liquidity. We're not rushing into it - we're saying what do our clients want and need, and we're there with the balance sheet if needed.
What are your thoughts on private credit in Asia? Is Japan a place to be?

Haslinda Amin
Bernard Mensah

I'm particularly excited about Southeast Asia. Japan has a terrific banking sector but loan utilization rates have been low due to low growth. The initial phase of regrowth in Japan will come through regular banking channels, but at the margin there will be other capital solutions.
Are there sectors more attractive than others?

Haslinda Amin
Bernard Mensah

Technology areas in Asia - robotics and machine sectors in Japan and East Asia, biotech coming out of China, Hong Kong and Japan.
Will we see an AI bubble and can the CapEx be sustained?

Haslinda Amin
Bernard Mensah

There's a lot of investment going in. Whether it will get the right return on investments in different areas like data centers remains to be seen. But the use cases have real benefits - our virtual assistants are used more every year with billions of interactions.

We started this technology dialogue five years ago because the evolution is at such a fast pace. Agentic AI and physical AI are new areas we weren't talking about two or three years ago.
Where are the biggest opportunities for clients?

Haslinda Amin
Bernard Mensah

Over the medium term, particularly in Asia, there are so many opportunities. Demographics are terrific with a lot of smart young people. We want those companies to be available for people to invest in through stock markets and private sector.

SignalTube

markets at a glance