BNP Paribas said today that its investment solutions arm –
the division containing much of its wealth management business – logged a rise
in assets under management of 1.9 per cent in the first three months of the
year compared with a year before, standing at €906 billion ($1.184 billion).

(Yesterday evening, BNP Paribas collected two awards at the inaugural WealthBriefing European Awards, held in London: European Private Bank - International Clients Team, and European Private Bank - UHNW Team.)

The rise was due primarily to a positive performance effect
driven by the rise in the financial markets. Net asset inflows were €3.1
billion with “very good inflows” at the wealth management business, especially
in Asia and in the domestic markets, the
French banking and investment group said in a statement.

Other parts of the investment solutions division, such as insurance
in France, Asia and Latin
America, also had strong asset inflows, along with personal investors,
especially in Germany.

After receiving one-third of the net income of private banking
of the domestic markets, pre-tax income rose 12.7 per cent compared to the
first quarter of 2012, to stand at €541 million.

Within the wealth and asset management segment of investment
solutions, pre-tax income in the first quarter of this year was €197 million,
down from €238 million in the previous three months but up from €190 million a
year before.

BNP’s asset management business reported outflows, in
particular in money market funds, but made “good asset inflows” in emerging
markets.

The investment solutions’ assets under management segment
broke down as follows: asset management: €404 billion; wealth management: €277
billion; insurance: €175 billion; personal investors: €37 billion; and real estate services:
€13 billion.

Revenues, totalling €1.563 billion, rose by 2.8 per cent
year-on-year.

Wealth and asset management’s revenues fell by 0.6 per cent
due to asset management’s lower average outstandings and despite wealth management’s
growth. Investment solutions’ operating expenses, at €1.054 billion,
rose by 0.8 per cent compared to the first quarter 2012; there was a 2.5 per
cent decline in wealth and asset management.

Group results

Across all divisions, BNP Paribas reported net income
attributable to ordinary shareholders of €1.584 billion, compared with €2.869
billion a year earlier. The firm’s cost/income ratio in the first quarter of
this year was 64.8 per cent, compared with 69.2 per cent a year ago.

Pre-tax income was €2.615 billion, a 33.6 per cent
year-on-year decline.

BNP Paribas said its solvency was “very high” with a Basel
2.5 common equity Tier 1 (CRD3) ratio at 11.7 per cent and a fully loaded Basel
3 common equity Tier 1 ratio at 10.0 per cent, “confirming BNP Paribas as one
of the world’s best capitalised global banks”, it added.