The news: Morgan Stanley’s flagship wealth management business and trading division helped the Wall Street bank deliver a 15% increase in profits for the second quarter.
The news: The bank reported a net income of US$3.5 billion ($5.38 billion) for the second quarter, ahead of analyst expectations of US$3.2 billion.
Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division raked in US$59.2 billion in net new assets during the quarter, ahead of the US$45.8 billion forecast and well ahead of the US$35.4 billion achieved in the comparable quarter last year.
The bank’s traders reeled in US$3.72 billion in equity-trading revenue, a 23% jump from a year ago and ahead of analyst expectations. Fixed income trading climbed 9% to US$2.2 billion in Q2, capitalising on recent market turmoil.
The context: The results make the period Morgan Stanley’s second best trading quarter on record, as banks were able to capitalise on the volatility spurred by Trump’s trade tariffs.
Despite the strong performance across wealth management and trading, Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division continues to struggle, seeing a 5% decline in revenues to US$1.54 billion during the quarter which it blamed on “lower completed M&A transactions.”
What they said: Ted Pick, chairman and CEO said in a statement: “Wealth continues to deliver, adding [US]$59 billion of net new assets and [US]$43 billion of fee-based flows. Total client assets across Wealth and Investment Management reached [US]$8.2 trillion. We announced an increase of our quarterly common stock dividend to [US]$1.00 per share with flexibility to deploy incremental capital. The management team is executing across the Integrated Firm, acting as a trusted advisor to clients and driving durable growth and long-term returns for our shareholders.”
