AuM fell, but wealth and asset management revenues inched higher last year.

The wealth, insurance and asset management arm of BNP Paribas clocked up total assets under management of €1.028 trillion ($1.71 trillion) at the end of last year, falling by 2.2 per cent from the end of 2017 as markets fell.

The Paris-based group said in a statement yesterday that within its wealth arm, AuM stood at €361 billion).

Wealth and asset management revenues rose by 2.9 per cent in 2018 from a year earlier to €3.286 billion, driven by real estate services. The new MiFID II regulations of the European Union and unfavourable market movements acted as headwinds for these results, however.

Wealth and asset management pre-tax income stood at €681 million, falling by 24.2 per cent on a year before, or down by 18.1 per cent when non-recurring items are stripped out. In Q4, wealth and asset management revenues fell by 4.6 per cent year-on-year to €866 million. Pre-tax income was €146 million, falling by 41.2 per cent.

For the whole of the BNP Paribas group, pre-tax income, at €10.208 billion, fell by 9.7 per cent on a year before. The group’s net income attributable to equity holders was €7.526 billion, falling by 3.0 per cent from a year before, but only down by 1.4 per cent, at €8.036 billion, excluding the effect of exceptional items.