A summary of the main North America banks' financial results for the first quarter of 2025, as they relate to wealth management and private banking.

The results focus on the largest institutions which provide wealth management. (See our roundup of Q4, 2024 figures.)

Not all banks report on a calendar year schedule, or on the same day, and not all the institutions are alike, so the results from standalone institutions should be viewed differently from wealth management results embedded within a larger group. These results may be subsequently revised. We hope readers find it useful to see these figures collated in one article and can make a few comparisons. To comment, email tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com
 

JP Morgan
It announced a 23 per cent year-on-year rise in net income at its wealth and asset management arm, reaching $1.583 billion in the first quarter of 2025. Net revenue rose 12 per cent to $5.731 billion; noninterest expenses narrowed 82 per cent to $10 million at its wealth and asset management business. Total assets under management rose 15 per cent reaching $4.1 trillion; total client assets stood at $6 trillion, also rising 15 per cent. 

Goldman Sachs 
Net revenues in asset and wealth management were $3.68 billion for the first quarter of 2025, 3 per cent lower than the first quarter of 2024 and 22 per cent down from the fourth quarter of 2024. The decrease compared with the first quarter of 2024 reflected significantly lower net revenues in equity investments and debt investments, partially offset by higher management and other fees. 

The increase in private banking and lending net revenues primarily reflected higher net interest income from lending.

Citigroup
The wealth arm, which includes its private banking business, reported first-quarter earnings in 2025 of $284 million, surging by 62 per cent on a year ago, aided by a 24 per cent rise in revenues, while expenses held steady.

At the private bank, revenues rose 16 per cent, year-on-year, to $664 million; at the Wealth at Work segment, revenues surged 48 per cent to $268 million, and Citigold revenues rose 24 per cent to $1.164 billion. In total, across the whole business, wealth revenues rose 24 per cent to $2.1 billion in the quarter, and expenses were broadly flat.

The rise in private bank revenues was mostly caused by higher deposit spreads and higher investment fee revenues, partially offset by lower deposit balances. Client investment assets in the wealth segment stood at $595 billion, rising 16 per cent on the same quarter of 2024. The cost of credit in the wealth division was $98 million, compared with a benefit of ($170) million in the prior-year period, driven by a net ACL (allowances for credit losses) build related to deterioration in the macroeconomic outlook in the current quarter, compared with an ACL release in the prior-year period, and higher net credit losses.

Morgan Stanley 
The bank said its first-quarter 2025 net revenues in its wealth management arm rose to $7.327 billion from $6.88 billion a year earlier. Wealth management transactional revenues dropped to $873 million from $1.033 billion; net interest revenues inched up to $1.902 billion from $1.856 billion; asset management revenues rose to $4.396 billion from $3.829 billion. Total costs rose to $5.332 billion from $5.082 billion.

Total client assets of $7.7 trillion across wealth and investment management were supported by net new assets in wealth management of $94 billion, little changed frm a year earlier. Fee-based client assets in wealth management stood at $2.349 trillion, up from $2.124 trillion.

Bank of America 
The global wealth and investment arm reported broadly flat net income for the first quarter of 2025 versus the same period a year ago. The Q1 2025 net income figure was $1.007 billion. 

Total revenue rose to $6.02 billion from $5.59 billion; noninterest expense expanded to $4.659 billion from $4.264 billion. Total client balances rose to $4.157 trillion, from $3.973 trillion; asset flows slowed a touch to $24 billion in Q1 2025 from $24.7 billion. Within Bank of America Private Bank, it had $671 billion in client balances, and $400 billion in assets under management; about 280 net new client relationships, with each having at least $3 million, were added in the first quarter. The Merrill Wealth side of the business, had $3.5 trillion in client balances and $1.5 trillion in AuM balances; a total of about 6,400 net new households were added in the quarter.

BNY 
The market and wealth services business segment logged pre-tax income in the first quarter of 2025 of $816 million, up 20 per cent on the same period a year earlier. The market and wealth services business includes the Pershing business, which provides investment servicing and other services to wealth managers, family offices, and other financial institutions. 

Total revenue stood at $1.686 billion in Q1 2025, rising 11 per cent on a year earlier. Assets under custody/administration at the end of March were $14.7 trillion, rising 12 per cent. 

In the securities services business segment, pre-tax income stood at $708 million, rising 20 per cent. Across the whole of BNY, it had assets under management of $2 trillion, little changed on a year earlier.

Wells Fargo 
Net income in the first quarter of 2025 rose to $4.894 billion from $4.619 billion a year before. There was a decline in total revenue to $20.149 billion from $20.863 billion. 

Within wealth and investment management – a segment that covers private banking – Wells Fargo said total client assets at March 31 reached $2.232 trillion, up 2 per cent on a year earlier; net income at the wealth and investment arm rose 3 per cent year-on-year to $391 million. Noninterest income rose 6 per cent to $3.048 billion; interest income fell 5 per cent to $826 million.

Northern Trust 
It reported an 83 per cent year-on-year surge in net income for the first three months of 2025, reaching $392 million. This was achieved on the back of an 18 per cent year-on-year rise in total revenue. However, net income fell from the fourth quarter of 2024. Noninterest costs rose 4 per cent. Assets under management stood at $1.607 trillion at the end of March, rising 7 per cent on a year earlier. Within wealth management, AuM rose 6 per cent, to $446.9 billion. Total assets under custody/administration rose 3 per cent year-on-year to $16.92 trillion.

Royal Bank of Canada
It reported net income of C$4.4 billion for the quarter ended April 30, 2025, up 11 per cent from the prior year. Strong earnings growth in personal banking, wealth management and insurance, and higher results in commercial banking, were partly offset by lower results in capital markets. 

Net losses were lower in corporate support, primarily due to the after-tax impact of specified items related to the HSBC Bank Canada (HSBC Canada) transaction last year. The inclusion of HSBC Canada results increased net income by C$258 million. 

Wealth 
Wealth management net income of C$929 million increased 11 per cent from a year ago, mainly due to higher fee-based client assets reflecting market appreciation and net sales, which also drove higher variable compensation.