Net income from global wealth at TD Bank was C$147 million ($150.4 million) for the third quarter, up by 26 per cent from the same period in 2010, driven by fee-based revenue from higher client assets and increased net interest margins.

Meanwhile, net income from the bank’s reported investment in TD Ameritrade dropped by 23 per cent from Q3 2010, to C$48 million.

Overall, for both global wealth and TD Ameritrade, total wealth management net income was C$195 million for the quarter, up by 9 per cent from a year earlier.

Total revenue from global wealth was C$689 million, an increase of 12 per cent from a year earlier, while non-interest expenses rose by 9 per cent to C$485 million this year.

Assets under management were C$242 billion, down from C$248 billion at the end of the previous quarter. Assets under administration rose slightly, from C$190 billion at the end of Q2, to C$191 billion.

Return on invested capital for the whole of wealth management was 18.8 per cent, and the wealth operation’s efficiency ratio was 70.4 per cent for the third quarter.

The number of full-time equivalent staff in wealth management had risen year-over-year, from 7,027 last year to 7,243.

"This was a good quarter for our business, with healthy trading volumes and good year-over-year asset growth," said Mike Pedersen, group head, wealth management, insurance and corporate shared services. "While the volatile swings we've seen recently in the equity markets make it difficult to predict short-term performance, we're confident we are on track to deliver a very strong year."

As a whole, TD Bank reported net income of C$1.45 billion for the quarter, compared with C$1.18 billion a year earlier.

The third fiscal quarter delivered strong results from wealth management for a number of Canadian banks. These included CIBC, which reported net income from wealth management for the third quarter of C$68 million, up from C$53 million for the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, net income from wealth management at Canada’s National Bank rose 28 per cent year-over-year, totaling C$37 million (around $37. 5 million) in the third fiscal quarter of 2011.

Net income at BMO’s Private Client Group also rose, and was 14 per cent higher for the third quarter 2011 than a year earlier, reaching C$120 million ($121. 4 million).

Wealth management net income dropped at RBC however, falling by C$6 million compared to last year. This was despite the fact revenue from wealth management rose by C$111 million year-over-year, to C$1.16 billion, but the firm’s results were hit by certain accounting and tax adjustments.