Morgan Stanley and Bank of America both posted record earnings at their wealth management divisions in the first quarter, with their asset management businesses also seeing higher revenues and profits.

Pretax profit at Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management was "the highest in our history", according to James Gorman, chairman and chief executive at Morgan Stanley, after rising 48% from a year earlier to $597m. Revenue at the unit rose to $3.5bn, up 6% from the first quarter of 2012.