NEW YORK, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Bank of America BAC.N has promoted 394 executives to managing directors from January 1, up 2% from a year earlier, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

Of the total, 44 were promoted in investment banking, 48 in global markets and nine in research, said the source, who asked not to be named because the announcement was not public.Bank of America last month raised a closely watched profitability target, as CEO Brian Moynihan laid out a plan to catch up with Wall Street rivals that includes technology investments and an expansion strategy.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Chris Reese)

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