Hedge Fund Sells Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) Shares for Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C)

Lee Ainslie, a hedge fund manager, has sold all of his shares in Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) and used the funds to begin investing in Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) during the second quarter, according to media reports.

Ainslie’s Maverick Capital, along with a number of hedge funds, moved funds away from Bank of America and into Citigroup during the quarter, suggesting a shift in fortune for the two financial behemoths.

Bank of America shares have recovered better than those of Citigroup from the 2008 market crash, but the company’s reliance of U.S. customers for revenue has been seen as a disadvantage as the U.S. economy tightens and as Congress passes stricter financial regulations. Analysts generally believe that there’s more opportunity for Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) than Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC).

Citigroup is much less exposure to U.S. consumer and regulations from the U.S. Congress. Citi only has about 1,000 North American retail branches, compared to Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC)’s 6,000-strong branch network. Citigroup has just about the same number of loans and deposits as Bank of America, but only 37% of Citigroup’s deposits and 69% of Citigroup’s loans are in North America, compared to 80% of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC)’s loans and deposits.

Bank of America Corporation is a bank holding company, and a financial holding company. The Company is a financial institution, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses, large corporations and governments with a range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. Through its banking subsidiaries (the Banks) and various nonbanking subsidiaries throughout the United States and in selected international markets, it provides a range of banking and nonbanking financial services and products through six business segments: Deposits, Global Card Services, Home Loans & Insurance, Global Banking, Global Markets, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), with the remaining operations recorded in All Other. On January 1, 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

Shares of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) traded down 0.45% hitting $12.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday.