Securities brokerage income up at BHC

Securities brokerage income shot up 73% at bank holding companies during the first quarter, hitting $4.74 billion.

Securities brokerage income shot up 73% at bank holding companies during the first quarter, hitting $4.74 billion.
That is up from $2.74 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, according to data from nearly 1,000 large bank holding companies compiled by Michael White Associates LLC of Radnor, Pa., and Symetra Financial Corp. of Bellevue, Wash.
The report measures the firms’ performance in generating insurance, annuity, securities and mutual fund fee income.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. was out front, generating $866.1 million in securities broker fees during the first quarter, up a modest 2.7% from the same period a year earlier.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. of New York came in second with $778 million in fees, up 24.68% from the first quarter of 2007.
Wachovia Corp., also of Charlotte, made third place with $719 million, a 48.25% gain from a year earlier.
The most dramatic increase came from Barclays Group US Inc. of Wilmington, Del., where fee income rose to $178 million from $53.3 million, a gain of 233.82%.