Net Income Jumps At JP Morgan's Wealth, Asset Management Arm

Tom Burroughes

14 January 2022

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 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.