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Wealth Managers' Financial Results Scorecard
Tom Burroughes
9 August 2011
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.