Wealth management

Higher-than-expected revenue growth and improved asset quality propelled Northern Trust Corp. to strong profit gains in the quarter that ended March 31.

Morgan Stanley reported profit that beat analysts' estimates and the highest adjusted revenue in more than five years as equity trading and brokerage revenue jumped.

Sandy Spring Bancorp, in Olney, Md., reported an increase in quarterly profit because of an increase in mortgage revenue.

First Republic Bank reported higher quarterly profit, though loan growth pushed the San Francisco company above $50 billion in assets.

Bank of America reported its best quarterly profit in more than a year, but with revenue declining and expense-reduction slowing, it is unclear where the company can turn to boost earnings. Similar questions are plaguing many banks as the latest earnings season unfolds.

Regions Bank in Birmingham, Ala., has hired a former SunTrust Banks executive to join its wealth management group.

Bank of America Corp. named Diego De Giorgi and Karim Assef as co-heads of global investment banking, pairing a London-based banker who has focused on Europe and emerging markets with a New York-based veteran of the business.

If the Financial Stability Oversight Council was hoping for any kind of consensus on whether and how it should regulate asset management companies, the feedback it has received on its request for comment is likely disappointing. Asset management companies, their representatives and public interest groups presented widely divergent visions about what, if anything, the council should do.

Ultra-high-net-worth investors can have complex needs. That's why family historians and psychologists are on staff at Abbot Downing, the wealth-management business founded by Wells Fargo to serve investors with $50 million or more.

Digit, a startup in San Francisco targeting millennials, has launched a service that crunches checking account data to determine daily amounts to automatically transfer into users' savings accounts. Its debut points to how personal financial management services are growing up to do the work on the consumer's behalf.

It's easy for banks to spin their wheels on local reinvestment, financial education and other efforts to help underserved communities. To make outreach programs successful, bank executives need to carefully vet nonprofit and other partners, listen to their employees on the front lines and reflect on their own reasons for getting into banking.

Anthony DeChellis, the former head of Credit Suisse's Private Banking Americas division, has been named president of Jerusalem-based crowdfunding startup OurCrowd.

Wealthy investors from China and the Middle East are using Citi's private bank to acquire land and fracking rights as vulnerable owners consider emergency liquidations.

Branch closings draw big headlines, but several large banks are entering new markets — or bulking up in underrepresented cities — by adding branches and hiring lenders. Bank of America, for instance, is planning a retail push in Denver and Minneapolis.

Royal Bank of Canada's deal for City National showed that buyers will pay up for banks that cater to the wealthy. That's why First Republic, Boston Private and Signature Bank may soon find themselves facing offers they can't refuse.

Bank of New York Mellon, the custody bank under pressure from activist investor Trian Fund Management to lift its share price, declined the most in nine months after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that missed analysts' estimates.

State Street said fourth-quarter profit fell 3.7% as expenses rose faster than revenue.

KeyCorp in Cleveland beat earnings forecasts on the strength of increased fee income.

Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank, said profit tumbled 86 %, missing analysts' estimates after year-end trading slumped more than forecast.

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank, said fourth-quarter profit fell 11% as revenue from fixed-income trading declined.