Bank of Montreal was yesterday the first Big Five bank to release its fourth quarter and fiscal 2015 earnings release.

Net income from wealth management at Bank of Montreal was C$243 million ($182 million) for the final quarter of 2015, up C$18 million, or 8 per cent, from a year ago.

Assets under management and administration grew by $70 billion, or 9 per cent, from a year ago to $864 billion, driven by favorable foreign exchange movements and market appreciation, BMO said.

On September 30, 2015, BMO closed the sale of its US retirement services business and BMO Benefit Services - transactions which reflect the bank's global asset management strategy, it said.

For the fiscal year 2015, BMO Financial Group reported net income of C$4.41 billion, or C$6.57 per share on a reported basis, and net income of C$4.7 billion, or $7.00 per share on an adjusted basis.

For the fourth quarter ended October 31, 2015, net income was C$1.2 billion and earnings per share was C$1.83. Adjusted net income was C$1.3 billion and adjusted earnings per share was C$1.90.

"For the first time, our personal and commercial banking and wealth management businesses in the US generated adjusted earnings of more than $1 billion," said Bill Downe, chief executive at BMO Financial Group.

At the end of October, BMO said it is relocating its Atlantic Canada headquarters and support services, its main BMO Bank of Montreal and BMO Nesbitt Burns branches, as well as BMO Private Banking, Commercial and Corporate Finance offices to the new Nova Centre in Halifax.