The wealth and investment management (WIM) arm of Wells Fargo has reported net income of $653m for the fourth quarter of 2016, up 10% compared to $595m a year ago.
The division’s total revenue for the quarter was $4.07bn, a rise of 3% from $3.94bn in the year ago quarter. Noninterest expense at the unit was rose 1% year-on-year to $3.04bn.
The WIM unit offers a range of personalised wealth management, investment and retirement products and services to clients across US-based businesses including Wells Fargo Advisors, The Private Bank, Abbot Downing, Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement and Trust, and Wells Fargo Asset Management.
Client assets at the wealth management arm of the bank at the end of 31 December 2016 were $231bn, an increase of 3% from the year ago period.
Asset under management (AuM) at Wells Fargo Asset Management was $482bn, a drop of 2% compared with the year ago quarter.
Overall, the banking group posted net income of $5.27bn for the fourth quarter of 2016, down 5.5% compared to $5.58bn in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Wells Fargo CFO John Shrewsberry said: “Wells Fargo had solid underlying performance in the fourth quarter as we continued to benefit from our diversified business model. Net interest income increased from the prior quarter, largely driven by growth in loans and investments, as well as higher interest rates. Noninterest income declined from the prior quarter due to net hedge accounting ineffectiveness associated with our hedging of long-term debt as part of our asset/liability management program, as well as lower market-sensitive revenue.
“Other sources of noninterest income were diversified and stable with the prior quarter. Credit quality remained solid in the quarter, and we returned $3.0 billion to shareholders in the quarter, with a full year 2016 net payout ratio of 61 percent."
