Major Financial Firms’ Wealth Revenues Climb

schedule 4 Min Read Mario Tama/Getty Images News/Getty Images Feature image d Wealth divisions at some of the country’s largest financial institutions are serving as firm ground while some banks face headwinds in other divisions, according to earnings reports. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup were among the institutions that announced third quarter earnings, with Bank of America and Morgan Stanley set to follow.

While some firms matched or beat overall expectations, several ran into difficulties in fixed income and commodities trading. In particular, JPMorgan reported a decline in fixed-income trading, the first such dip in two years. However, wealth earnings either exceeded or broadly met expectations.

In JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management division, revenue was up 14% year-over-year to $6.9 billion, based largely on growth in management fees from higher average market levels and inflows. Expenses also grew 14% to $4.4 billion, due to higher compensation and “continued growth in private banking advisor teams.” The firm’s assets under management hit $5.2 trillion, a 13% year-over-year boost.

Related: Wirehouses Lost 517 Advisors in First Half of 2026 At Wells Fargo, total revenue in the wealth and investment management division hit 12% year-over-year at $4.1 billion, with a 5% boost over the second quarter, while net interest income climbed 12% year-over-year, “driven by higher deposit and loan balances and lower deposit costs.” However, expenses also grew year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter.

Revenue in Goldman Sachs’ asset and wealth management divisions was $5.05 billion in the third quarter, a 14% year-over-year jump and a 10% jump from the second quarter, coming out over $400 million ahead of general expectations. According to Goldman Sachs, the boost came from “significantly higher management and other fees and incentive fees.” However, the firm noted these revenue boosts were “partially offset by significantly lower net revenues” in investments, private banking and lending; in the case of the latter two, Goldman Sachs attributed the dip to “the payment of interest on previously impaired loans in the prior year period.” Finally, Citigroup reported a 15% revenue growth in its wealth business, while net interest income jumped by 20% from the prior year.

Like other firms, expenses were also up year-over-year due to higher compensation. Though the wealth divisions posted strong earnings, other aspects of the businesses showed strain, particularly in fixed income. At JPMorgan, fixed-income earnings fell 4% year-over-year, and total trading revenue came in below expectations (though early-morning market losses dissipated after JPMorgan raised its net interest income projections for the year).

Related: $1.3B UBS Team Departs for Wells Fargo's FiNet The revenue dip came from declines in commodities, rates, credit and public finance. While total trading revenue and investment banking fees climbed, they came in below at the lower end of JPMorgan’s expected ranges (though stock traders had an all-time best third quarter), according to Bloomberg .

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo beat estimates by managing expected loan losses, with provision for credit losses and net charge-offs both beating estimates. While fixed-income and commodities traders at Goldman Sachs came in below expectations, the firm’s equities traders made up ground by exceeding estimates and posting a record for any bank’s third quarter in equities.

According to Bloomberg , the firm attributed the fixed-income declines to slumps in mortgages and credit, and lower revenue from interest-rate products. Additionally, Citigroup’s fixed-income traders seem to avoid the difficulties at some other institutions with their best third quarter in over 10 years.

During the JPMorgan earnings call with CEO Jamie Dimon and CFO Jeremy Barnum, the principals addressed the value proposition of their investments in artificial intelligence throughout the bank, with Barnum saying he was “trying to move away” from quantifying the benefits of the technology by arguing it was increasingly “well diffused” inside the company.

Related: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Snags $1.2B UBS Team in New Mexico While the company had done so in the past, Barnum argued that those figures were typically tied to generative AI opportunities, whereas questions now center on the value-add of generative and agentic AI tools.

However, Barnum acknowledged that the visibility of those benefits wasn’t legible in the company’s current quarterly earnings. “That’s probably not that surprising, because as important and dramatic and exciting as this theme is, it takes a long time to really do things that are visible at an institution of our size,” he said.

“I can tell you that just anecdotally, the types of use cases and benefits that I’m starting to see ... are increasingly exciting.” About the Author Senior Reporter, Wealth Management Patrick Donachie is a senior reporter for Wealth Management , covering federal and state regulation, litigation and M&A deals in financial services.

Patrick was born in Staten Island, and now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.