The bank issued a broadly positive set of figures for its wealth management operations.

Standard Chartered, the UK-listed bank, announced yesterday that operating income in its wealth solutions arm rose 34 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 to $1.043 billion. 

Within that figure, investment products stood at $778 million (up 37 per cent), and bancassurance came in at $265 million (up 37 per cent). 

Wealth and retail banking profit surged by 51 per cent to $981 million.

Away from the wealth solutions side, other notable gainers were capital markets and advisory (rising 58 per cent), lending and financial solutions (up 14 per cent), and securities and prime services (up 17 per cent), Standard Chartered said in a statement. 

The quarterly performance of wealth solutions income was a record.

Affluent net-new money showed record momentum with inflows of $18 billion, mainly from higher wealth sales. 

Expenses fell by 2 per cent as investment in affluent business growth initiatives and digital capabilities was part funded by efficiency savings. A credit impairment charge of $180 million was $8 million lower as precautionary management overlays were offset by portfolio de-risking actions.

For the overall Standard Chartered group, profit for the period rose 20 per cent to $1.91 billion; operating income rose 10 per cent to $5.9 billion; and credit impairments rose 36 per cent to $296 million. Return on tangible equity was 17.4 per cent for Q1, up from 14.8 per cent a year earlier. 

At the end of Q1, Standard Chartered had a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 13.4 per cent, down from 14.1 per cent at the end of 2025. The figure fell as underlying profit accretion was offset by higher risk-weighted assets and the impact of a $1.5 billion share buyback announced in February 2026. The ratio remains 3.1 percentage points above the group’s latest regulatory minimum.

The lender, which earns the bulk of its revenues in regions such as Asia, said its guidance for 2026 results remains unchanged. It said reported operating income growth year-on-year will be around the bottom end of 5-7 per cent range at constant currency; net interest income is expected to be flat from a year ago, in constant currency terms, and costs to stay unchanged. Return on tangible equity will be above 12 per cent.

Shares in the bank are up about 2 per cent since the start of 2026.