Goldman Sachs

The firm’s investment management arm saw its net revenues dip 7 per cent year-on-year to $5.8 billion in 2016 while assets under supervision swelled 10 per cent to a record $1.4 trillion during the year. The decline in net revenues primarily reflected significantly lower incentive fees compared with a strong 2015.

Total assets under supervision increased $127 billion and long-term assets under supervision rose $75 billion, including net inflows of $42 billion, mainly in fixed income assets, and net market appreciation of $33 billion, predominantly in equity and fixed income assets. Liquidity products grew $52 billion in 2016 and operating expenses weighed in at $20 billion, 19 per cent lower than 2015. The group's total operating expenses were at the lowest level since 2008. In the fourth quarter of 2016, net revenues in investment management were $1.6 billion, 3 per cent higher than in the same period of the previous year. This rise was propelled by higher incentive fees and transaction revenues.

Citigroup

Private Bank revenues increased 6 per cent to $731 million, driven by higher loan balances and higher spreads. For the overall bank, full-year 2016 net income was $14.9 billion on revenues of $69.9 billion, compared to net income of $17.2 billion on revenues of $76.4 billion for the full year 2015.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

In 2016 it logged net income of $2.8 billion in its global wealth and investment management division, an 8 per cent increase from 2015. GWIM reported net income of $634 million, up 1.8 per cent year-on-year, it said. Revenue of $4.4 billion for the quarter fell 2.3 per cent from the same period a year ago because higher asset management fees were more than offset by lower transactional revenue.

This business segment reported revenue of $4.4 billion, a drop of 2.3 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2015; there was a pre-tax margin in GWIM of 23 per cent, a slight gain over 12 months. Asset management fees came in at $2.098 billion, up 1 per cent from the third quarter of 2016 and 2 per cent up on the year. Brokerage and other non-interest income fell $142 million from a year ago, as transaction revenues took a drop. Client balances of more than $2.5 trillion rose 2 per cent compared to year-end 2015. Total GWIM assets under management stood at $886 billion at the end of 2016, versus $871 billion at the end of September, 2016.

At the Merrill Lynch business, client balances at this segment stood at of $2.1 trillion, a gain of 1 per cent from the third quarter of 2016 and up 6 per cent over the year. Revenue, at $3.6 billion, was flat between quarters and fell 2.5 per cent on the year as transaction volume declined. Merrill Lynch achieved positive year-on-year advisor growth of 129 persons (or 1 per cent) since 4Q 2015, and Q/Q growth of 76 (or 0.5 per cent) for a total of 14,629 advisors.

At the US Trust part of the financial group, the firm said revenue in the fourth quarter of 2016 was $776 million, up 2.1 per cent from the previous three-month period. In total, private client advisors at US Trust reached a record of 352.

JP Morgan

Its asset management division – which contains private banking - reported net income before tax of $2.251 billion in 2016, 16 per cent up on a year before. In the final three months of last year, pre-tax net income was $586 million, up from $507 million a year ago. Private banking assets under management at the end of last year stood at $435 billion, down slightly from $437 billion at the end of 2015. As for total client assets, private banking had $1.98 trillion, up from $1.05 trillion in the end of 2015. The US lender gave relatively few other details on the financial performance of its private banking business. For the asset management division as a whole, total AuM was $1.771 trillion, up from $1.723 trillion.

Morgan Stanley

Wealth management in the fourth quarter of 2016 logged pre-tax income from continuing operations of $891 million, rising from $768 million in the same period a year ago. The pre-tax margin in the last quarter was 22 per cent. Net revenue in Q4, 2016 was $3.99 billion, up from $3.791 billion a year ago. Asset management fee revenues stood at $2.2 billion, a rise from $2.1 billion a year ago, it said.

At the end of the quarter, total client assets stood at $2.1 trillion; client assets in fee-based accounts were $877 billion at the end of the quarter; fee-based asset flows for the quarter were $17.1 billion. In terms of headcount, there were 15,763 representatives of the wealth business at the end of last year, producing averaged annualized revenue per person of more than $1.0 million,

Wells Fargo

The wealth and investment management segment, logged net income of $653 million in the three months to the end of December, 2016, a drop from $677 million three months previously, but up from $595 million a year earlier. In the fourth quarter wealth and investment management net revenue increased by $127 million, or 3 per cent, from a year ago primarily driven by higher net interest income and asset-based fees, partially offset by lower transaction revenue and deferred compensation plan investment results (offset in employee benefits expense).

Noninterest expense increased $44 million, or 1 per cent, from a year ago, primarily due to higher broker - 11 - commissions and non-personnel expenses, partially offset by lower deferred compensation plan expense (offset in trading revenue). The provision for credit losses increased $9 million from a year ago. Client assets stood at $231 billion, up 3 per cent from prior year.

BNY Mellon

Assets under custody and/or administration and assets under management of $29.9 trillion increased 3 per cent reflecting higher market values, offset by the unfavorable impact of a stronger dollar. Estimated new AuC/A wins in asset servicing of $141 billion in 4Q16. AuM of $1.65 trillion increased 1 per cent reflecting higher market values offset by the unfavorable impact of a stronger dollar (principally versus the UK sterling. - Net long-term outflows of $11 billion in 4Q16 were a combination of $10 billion of outflows from actively managed strategies and $1 billion of outflows from index strategies.

Northern Trust

The firm reported fourth quarter net income per diluted common share of $1.11, compared to $0.99 in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $1.08 in the third quarter of 2016. Net income was $266.5 million, compared to $239.3 million in the prior-year quarter and $257.6 million in the prior quarter. Total assets under custody/administration stood at $.8.541 billion at the end of last year, a 10 per cent year-on-year gain. Assets under administration rose 8 per cent over the year to $942.4 billion.

Wealth management trust, investment and other servicing fees stood at $337.7 billion in Q4, 2016, up 6 per cent on the year. In Northern Trust’s Global Family Office segment, such fees came in at $50.8 billion, up 19 per cent. Trust, investment and other servicing fees rose 7 per cent in the fourth quarter to $456.7 billion from the same quarter of 2015.

BlackRock

It reported net income for 2016 of $3.214 billion, a 3 per cent year-on-year decline, while its fourth-quarter net income rose 6 per cent to $852 million from a year earlier. Total assets under management at the US-listed firm stood at $5.148 trillion at the end of December, 2016, a rise of 11 per cent from a year earlier, it said in a statement. Net flows were $202.191 billion last year, up from $149.895 billion in 2015. Operating margin at BlackRock was 43.7 per cent through the whole of 2016, up from 4.29 per cent in 2015.

BlackRock said that as far as long-term inflows to its business were concerned, net inflows were positive across all major regions, with net inflows of $46.0 billion, $38.2 billion and $3.6 billion from clients in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, respectively. At December 31, 2016, BlackRock managed 63 per cent of its long-term AuM for investors in the Americas and 37 per cent for clients in EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

Societe Generale

The private banking arm logged net banking income of €815 million ($924 million) last year, a rise of 2.1 per cent on a year earlier. The bank issued a broadly upbeat set of figures for its private bank, reflecting on a year when it sold its Asian operations. The asset and wealth management segment of the Paris-listed banking group said it logged net banking income of €1.038 billion last year, down slightly from €1.072 billion a year earlier; net income was €218 million, from €271 million. Private banking assets under management stood at €108 billion at the end of 2014, up from €84 billion at the end of 2013; the bank said there had been an inflow of €4.2 billion last year, partly offsetting last March’s sale, completed later in the year, of the Asian private banking business to Singapore-headquartered DBS.

ABN AMRO

The bank reported an underlying net profit in the fourth quarter of 2016 of €333 million ($352 million), a 23 per cent year-on-year rise. For the entire year, net profit was €2.076 billion, up 8 per cent from a year earlier. The bank announced restructuring moves in the second half of last year to cut its cost-income ratio. Return on equity was 11.8 per cent and the bank’s capital position was bolstered. At the end of last year, the cost/income ratio of the bank was 65.9 per cent, against 61.8 per cent in 2015. At the private banking arm, the lender said underlying profit for the period almost doubled to €49 million in Q4 2016. The increase was mainly due to higher operating income. The underlying profit was €5 million below the level of Q3 2016. ABN AMRO said client assets at the private bank increased to €204.9 billion at 31 December 2016 due to a “positive market performance” in the final three months of 2016. Those total assets included €17.9 billion related to the private banking portfolio in Asia and the Middle East (held for sale).

BNP Paribas

Assets under management hit a record high of €1.01 trillion ($1.08 trillion) in 2016, swelling 5.8 per cent from the previous year, while pre-tax income at its wealth and asset management arm stood at €685 million, dipping 5.4 per cent since 2015. Total AuM for insurance, wealth and asset management rose by €56 billion, propelled by “very good net asset inflows” totalling €34.9 billion. The firm also cited strong asset inflows at its wealth management business across Asia, France and Italy as driving forces behind the rise, adding that it saw “very good” asset inflows at its asset management arm, particularly into diversified and bond funds. As of 31 December 2016, AuM comprised the following: asset management (€416 billion); wealth management (€344 billion); insurance (€226 billion); and real estate services (€24 billion).

Barclays

It reported a profit attributable to shareholders for 2016 of £1.623 billion ($2.02 billion), versus a comparable loss of £394 million in 2015. Total income last year was £21.451 billion, a 3 per cent year-on-year decline. The bank, which no longer provides specific results for its wealth and investment management segment, did, however, give figures for its wealth, entrepreneurs and business banking segment as part of its Barclays UK operation. This segment reported income of £1.604 billion for 2016, a 3 per cent year-on-year increase, it said in a statement.

HSBC

The private banking arm reported adjusted pre-tax profit of $289 million for 2016, a 1.5 per cent year-on-year increase. Total customer accounts stood at $69.85 billion at the end of last year, against $78.32 billion in 2015. Retail banking and wealth management logged an adjusted pre-tax profit of $5.3 billion, a 27.6 per cent surge from the level reported in 2015. HSBC logged an adjusted pre-tax profit of $19.3 billion last year, a 1.2 per cent year-on-year decrease. The group’s reported profit before tax amounted to $7.1 billion, some 62 per cent lower than the prior year. This decline principally reflected the impact of significant items, most of which had no impact on capital, even though they were material in accounting terms, the bank said. Disposals of businesses, such as in Brazil, imposed a significant one-off cost. For the entire banking group, Europe and Latin America both posted losses when broken down at a regional level, while regions such as Asia, North America, Middle East and North Africa made profits, HSBC said.

The bank said it decided it was wise to write off the remaining goodwill in the European private banking business. Much of this goodwill comes from its purchase of Safra Republic Holdings in 1999.

Royal Bank of Scotland

RBS said its private banking division, which incorporates Coutts and Adam & Company, logged an adjusted operating profit for 2016 of £149 million ($198 million), a 32 per cent rise from 2015. Total income at this part of RBS increased by £13 million from the year before to £657 million last year.

Standard Chartered

The private banking arm logged a statutory loss before taxation of $41 million in 2016 compared with a profit of $92 million in 2015. Private banking recorded an underlying profit of $32 million in 2016 compared to a profit of $99 million in 2015 owing to lower income and higher expenses, which more than offset the benefit of lower loan impairment. The difference between underlying and statutory profit before taxation is explained by restructuring charges of $73 million in 2016 and $7 million in 2015. Assets under management declined 4 per cent to $54 billion.

DBS Group

The Singapore-headquartered bank achieved a record S$2.39 billion ($1.75 billion) in net profit for the first half of the year, thanks in part to momentum in its wealth management business. Income at the group's wealth management customer segment jumped 41 per cent to a record S$743 million, as assets under management rose 22 per cent to S$143 billion. The half-year saw a 34 per cent increase in wealth management fees to S$342 million, which helped drive the group's net fee income up 13 per cent to S$1.14 billion. DBS's first-half total income crossed the S$5 billion mark for the first time as it reached S$5.43 billion at the end of June.

United Overseas Bank

Within the group’s wealth management segment, total assets under management stood at S$93 billion ($65.4 billion) at the end of 2016. Last week, the overall UOB group reported net earnings of S$3.10 billion for the full year of 2016, down slightly (3.5 per cent) from the figure in 2015. Net interest income rose by 1.3 per cent to S$4.99 billion.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation

The parent of Bank of Singapore, the private bank, reported a net profit after tax of S$3.47 billion ($2.47 billion) for 2016, a fall of 11 per cent on a year earlier. The result for 2015 was elevated by a large gain from insurance subsidiary Great Eastern Holdings. As at 31 December 2016, Bank of Singapore's assets under management stood at $79 billion, which included the AuM from Barclays, equating to a rise of 45 per cent. BoS’s earning asset base, which are secured and included loans from Barclays WIM, rose 43 per cent to $97 billion from $68 billion a year earlier.

Royal Bank of Canada

The bank reports on a different end-point basis to many other banks; in its latest quarter, the period runs to 31 January, 2017. For that period, the wealth management business logged net income of $430 million, up $127 million or 42 per cent from a year ago, largely reflecting higher net interest income on volume growth, and higher earnings due to growth in average fee-based client assets and increased transaction revenue. These factors were partially offset by higher costs in support of business growth. Compared to last quarter, net income was up $34 million or 9 per cent, primarily reflecting increased transaction revenue, higher net interest income on volume growth, and higher annual performance fees. These factors were partially offset by higher costs in support of business growth.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group

The bank, which has sold its Asia-based wealth and retail banking arms, reported a statutory net profit of A$1.6 billion for the final three months of 2016, a rise of 8 per cent from a year ago. In cash terms, profit was A$2.0 billion, a surge of 31 per cent. Profits before provisions rose 17 per cent, while revenues increased by 7 per cent. ANZ said the sale of its Asia retail/wealth business arms were due to be completed by the first half of next year, subject to customary regulatory clearance. Last October, ANZ sold these Asian businesses to Singapore-headquartered DBS.

National Australia Bank

At the wealth business, the lender said cash earnings increased by A$40 million or 12.7 per cent compared to the September 2015 full year, reflecting growth in FUM/A due to investment markets, positive net funds flow and efficiencies in operating expenses. Net investments income increased by A$19 million or 1.7 per cent compared to the September 2015 full year due to revenue growth from higher FUM/A as a result of investment market growth for the year.

Macquarie

The Australia-headquartered bank’s asset management arm had total AuM of A$501.7 billion at 31 December 2016, up two per cent on 30 September 2016, predominately driven by positive foreign exchange and market movements. During the quarter, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets raised $A1.4 billion in new equity, largely in Australian, Global and European Infrastructure funds; invested equity of A$1.9 billion including infrastructure in the US, Australia, UK and Mexico; and divested A$0.6 billion of assets in Germany and Mexico.

Nomura

The bank logged income before taxes in 2016 of Y165.158 billion, a slide of 52.4 per cent from a year earlier. Net revenue was Y1.395 trillion, a fall of 13 per cent.