Here is a roundup of second-quarter and half-year results for private banks and wealth management firms around the world.

As a further service to readers, this publication has listed out the second-quarter and half-year results on major banking groups, most of which have now been reported. Notably, Swiss banks contended with a strong domestic currency that acted as a drag on performance. Overall, the industry made more profit, revenue and logged more assets under management during the reporting period.

Warning! -  not all of the banks split out private banking and wealth management into discrete units, and may not all be exactly comparable.

UBS

Pre-tax profits at the wealth management businesses improved in the second quarter from the first three months of the year in all regions, including the Americas. Pre-tax profit was SFr672 million (around $838.4 million), up by 4 per cent from the previous quarter. Lower income due to lower invested asset levels and reduced client activity was more than offset by reduced operating expenses. Total operating income fell 3 per cent to SFr1.867 billion from SFr1.928 billion in the previous quarter, reflecting lower fee and net interest income. Net new money was positive for the fourth consecutive quarter, with net inflows of SFr5.6 billion compared with net inflows of SFr11.1 billion in the previous three months.

Credit Suisse

Private banking at Credit Suisse reported a fall in pre-tax income of 4 per cent in the second quarter of 2011 from a year ago, standing at SFr843 million (around $1.05 billion). The Zurich-listed bank said it will cut 4 per cent of all jobs across all divisions, reportedly equating to about 2,000 positions.

In its results, Credit Suisse said that private banking, which comprises the global wealth management clients business and the Swiss corporate and institutional clients business, was affected by the strengthening of the Swiss franc against the euro and dollar. Excluding the foreign exchange impact, income before taxes actually rose by 20 per cent in the second quarter and net revenues increased by SFr100 million or 3 per cent over the same period a year ago.

Julius Baer

Operating income and client assets fell to SFr898 million (around $1.09 trillion) in the second quarter of 2011, down 2 per cent year-on-year. Operating income fell by 2 per cent, while average assets under management were broadly flat, translating into a gross margin of 105 basis points, some 2 bps lower than in the first half of 2010, but a 2 bps improvement from the level achieved in the second half of 2010.

EFG International.

It made a net core profit of SFr72.6 million ($90.8 million) for the first six months of 2011, down from SFr88.4 million a year ago, as the strength of the Swiss franc took its toll. Core operating income fell to SFr396 million compared with SFr407.1 million a year ago. Revenue-generating assets under management fell to SFr80 billion at the end of June, compared with SFr84.8 billion at the end of last year.

Deutsche

The asset and wealth management division reported a 9 per cent year-on-year rise in net revenues, standing at €976 million (around $1.41 billion) for the second quarter of this year. Pre-tax income totalled €93 million in private wealth management for the quarter.

BNP

Its investment solutions segment, which covers wealth management, logged a 6.8 per cent year-on-year rise in revenues, standing at €1.623 billion (around $2.31 billion). The division made a pre-tax income of €549 million, a rise of 15.6 per cent on a year ago.

Société Générale

Private banking net income rose 19 per cent year-on-year in absolute terms to €194 million (around $275 million) in the second quarter of 2011, while this segment logged net inflows of €2.1 billion of assets, translating into an annualised 10.2 per cent rate, leaving total assets under management at €86.1 billion.

Standard Chartered

Wealth management income rose to $657 million in the six months to 30 June this year from $535 million a year ago.The wealth management section of StanChart comes under its consumer banking division, which made in total an operating income of $3.3 billion in the half-yearly period, up from $2.912 billion 12 months ago.

RBS

Its wealth management arm reported an operating profit before impairments of £162 million ($263.4 million) from £154 million a year before. For the three months to 30 June, RBS’s wealth unit logged an operating profit before impairments of £77 million, down from £88 million in the same quarter of a year ago. The cost/income ratio was 74 per cent, a slight rise. Assets under management, excluding deposits, stood at £34.3 billion at 30 June, up from £32.1 billion at end-2010.

Lloyds

Its wealth segment logged a year-on-year rise in “core” profit of 39 per cent to £170 million in the six months to the end of June. On the other hand, it reported a drop in pre-tax profit of 11 per cent-year-on-year to £139 million (around $227.5 million) on its “non-core” wealth and international business segment. (Non-core businesses are defined as those which deliver below hurdle returns, such as operations that have an unclear valuation proposition and sit outside the bank's risk appetite).

Barclays

Pre-tax profits fell 7 per cent in the six months to 30 June to £88 million (around $143 million) compared with the same period a year ago. A strong rise in income growth was offset by the cost of rising investment to develop the business. Income increased 12 per cent year-on-year to £848 million from “strong growth in both net interest income, and fee and commission income”. Operating expenses increased by 17 per cent, reflecting investment spend and related restructuring to support the wealth investment programme including Project Gamma spending of £44 million (2010: £33 million).

HSBC

The retail and wealth management arm logged pre-tax profits for the six months to 30 June of $3.126 billion, surging from $1.352 billion a year before. Meanwhile, pre-tax profits on global banking and markets fell to $4.811 billion from $5.452 billion a year before.

Bank of America

Net income rose to $506 million at the Global Wealth and Investment Management business, it said. The number of Global Wealth and Investment Management client-facing associates increased for the eighth consecutive quarter, with the company adding 546 financial advisors in the quarter and 942 since the second quarter of 2010. This segment’s s net income rose 54 percent from the year-ago quarter due to higher net interest income as a result of deposit growth, higher fee-based income, lower credit costs and the absence of a charge related to the sale of the Columbia long-term asset management business in the second quarter of 2010. These factors were partially offset by higher expenses, rising 7 per cent from a year earlier to $4.5 billion.

Morgan Stanley

Its global wealth management arm achieved net revenues of $3.5 billion in the second quarter of 2011, with client assets of $1.7 trillion and 17,638 global representatives. Net new assets for the quarter were $2.9 billion, with net flows in fee-based accounts of $9.7 billion. Net revenues and annualised revenue per global representative were the highest since the inception of the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture.

Citi

Its private bank had total revenues of $555 million in the second quarter of 2011, an 8 per cent gain on the previous three months and also up by the same extent on a year before.

BNY Mellon

Income before taxes was $215 million at its investment business for the second quarter, up 31 per cent year-over-year. Investment management and performance fees increased by 12 per cent from Q2 2010, to $790 million, reflecting both higher market values and net new business, the firm said.

Wells Fargo

Net income at its wealth, brokerage and retirement division rose to $333 million in the three months to 30 June this year from $270 million a year ago, although the latest quarterly results represented a small dip from $339 million in the quarter ending 30 March. Revenue was $3.1 billion, down 2 per cent from the first quarter of 2011, due to lower brokerage transaction revenue, but up 8 per cent from the second quarter of last year, driven by increased asset-based revenues and higher securities gains in the brokerage business.

DBS

Singapore-based DBS wealth management fee and commission income rose 53 per cent year-on-year to S$52 million in the second quarter. Consumer/private banking pre-tax profit rose to S$195 million in the quarter, up from S$135 million a year ago.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation – owner of Bank of Singapore, the private bank. OCBC does not break out the BoS results, which are listed under the “Others” segment covering areas such as brokerage. This segment’s operating profit, after allowances and amortisation, was S$192 million in the first six months of 2011, down from S264 million. Wealth management revenues rose 29 per cent year-on-year to S$350 million in the second quarter.