Another of the big financial firms in the US has reported its first-quarter figures.

Morgan Stanley has reported net revenues of $14.8 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with $15.7 billion a year ago. Net income applicable to Morgan Stanley was $3.7 billion, or $2.02 per diluted share, compared with net income of $4.1 billion, or $2.19 per diluted share.

Wealth management delivered a pre-tax margin of 26.5 per cent or 27.8 per cent excluding integration-related expenses. Morgan Stanley said the results reflected higher asset management fees and continued growth in bank lending. The business added net new assets of $142 billion, including an asset acquisition.

Total fee-based assets stood at $1.873 trillion at the end of March this year, up from $1.574 trillion; there were $97.2 billion of fee-based asset flows in the latest quarter, surging from $37.2 billion from a year ago. 

Wealth management net revenues dipped to $5.935 billion from $5.959 billion a year ago. 

Compensation costs in the wealth business fell because of a decline related to certain deferred compensation plans linked to investment performance, partly offset by higher compensable revenues.

Overall, Morgan Stanley’s business logged a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a standard way of measuring a bank’s capital buffer – of 15.9 per cent, down from 17.4 per cent a year before.