BMO Wealth Management, however, reported net income of $315 million for the latest quarter, down 6.0% from Q1 2021 and 8.7% from Q4 2021.
Tayfun Tuzun, chief financial officer of BMO Financial Group, said on the earnings call that the wealth management division’s drop in net profit could be attributed to “the impact of divestments,” which reduced growth in the net profit of 3%. “Lower insurance revenue” was also a factor, he said.
Traditional wealth net income for the first quarter of this year was $261 million, up 1.95% from the first quarter of 2021, but down about 9% from last quarter.
“BMO Wealth Management is key to our growth strategy and we continue to have strong underlying performance in traditional wealth management,” said Darryl White, CEO of BMO Financial Group. “This quarter, we finalized the sale of our EMEA [Asset Management] and US asset management firms, and are well advanced in repositioning wealth for growth in North America – investing in advisors and private bankers, offering [a] best-in-class customer experience.
Wealth management assets under management were down $186.15 billion from the first quarter of 2021 and down $190.69 billion quarter over quarter. BMO Wealth Management’s assets under management are $332.58 billion.
BMO as a whole reported revenue of $7.72 billion in the first quarter, up more than 10% year over year and more than 17% from last quarter. Spending increased approximately 6.4% from Q1 2021 and 1.1% from last quarter.
The company also reported earnings per share of $4.43, a 46% year-over-year increase, and announced a dividend of $1.33 per common share.
