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Morgan Stanley reported a 15 per cent increase in second-quarter profits, boosted by higher revenues at its flagship wealth management business and gains at its trading division.
The bank on Wednesday reported net income of $3.5bn for the three months to the end of June, beating analyst estimates of $3.2bn.
The Wall Street bank said its wealth management business, which has about $6tn in client assets, was boosted by “higher levels of client activity” during the quarter, with revenues at the division jumping 14 per cent to $7.8bn compared with the same period last year.
Net new assets at the closely watched wealth management business also came in at $59.2bn during the quarter.
This was ahead of analysts’ expectations for about $45.8bn and significantly higher than the $36.4bn it brought in during the second quarter last year. The figure is followed closely by investors as a gauge of the business’s growth trajectory.
“The management team is executing across the integrated firm, acting as a trusted adviser to clients and driving durable growth and long-term returns for our shareholders,” said chief executive Ted Pick.
Meanwhile, revenues at the bank’s equities trading business jumped 23 per cent on the same period last year to $3.7bn, while fixed income trading climbed 9 per cent to $2.2bn, benefiting from the recent market turbulence.
The robust performance of the trading business offset a 5 per cent decline in revenues at Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division during the quarter, which it blamed in part on “lower completed M&A transactions”.
Morgan Stanley was trading about 1 per cent lower in pre-market trading in New York.
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