The UK banking group reported a rise in net income in the business unit that covers wealth management.

Lloyds Banking Group, which has created a wealth management joint venture with fellow UK-listed firm Schroders, said yesterday that its insurance and wealth arm logged net income of £1.241 billion ($1.511 billion) in the first six months of 2019. That compares with £1.039 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Underlying profit at the insurance/wealth arm rose to £677 million in H1 2019 from £480 million, Lloyds Banking Group said in a statement.

The banking group has moved back into full private ownership after having been bailed out by the UK government amidst the 2008 financial sector crash.

For the banking group as a whole, net income slipped to £8.822 billion in H1 from £8.971 billion a year before.

The Schroders/Lloyds JV, unveiled in October 2018, is called Schroders Personal Wealth. Its services are open to existing clients of Lloyds Private Bank and Bank of Scotland Private Banking eligible clients from June onwards. It will be open to the wider UK market from the fourth quarter of this year. To some extent its business model is a push for the mass-affluent and HNW market.

Lloyds sold its international private banking arm to Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privée a few years ago.