The US banking group reported significantly stronger results in the wealth and asset management side for the fourth quarter of 2021.

JP Morgan kicked off the fourth-quarter 2021 financial services reporting calendar today, saying that its assets and wealth management business logged net income of $1.1 5 billion in the quarter, rising from $786 million a year earlier, or a gain of 46 per cent.

Net revenue rose $4.5 billion, up 16 per cent, predominantly driven by higher management fees and growth in deposits and loans, partially offset by deposit margin compression, the US group said in a statement.

Noninterest costs were $3.0 billion, up 9 per cent, driven by higher performance-related compensation and distribution fees, higher structural expense, as well as higher investments in the business, partially offset by lower legal costs compared with the prior year.

Assets under management were $3.1 trillion, up 15 per cent, driven by cumulative net inflows, as well as higher market levels, it said. 

Across the whole of JP Morgan, the bank logged $10.4 billion of net income in Q4, 2021, falling from $12.1 billion a year before. Net revenues slipped to $29.25 billion from $29.33 billion, while non-interest costs rose to $17.9 billion from $16.05 billion. There was a net benefit (the reverse of provision for credit loss) of $1.29 billion, down from a net benefit of $1.9 billion.

Return on common equity narrowed to 16 per cent from 19 per cent a year ago. 

The bank had a Basel III common equity Tier 1 capital ratio on a standardized basis of 13 per cent.