“We continue to execute on our multi-year strategy to deliver consistent returns for our shareholders through revenue growth and strong expense discipline,” he said.
By contrast, Goldman Sachs’ bond trading division saw its revenues fall 11pc to $2.9bn, in what ranked as its worst start to the year since the banking crisis.
The company blamed a “challenging environment”, with levels of activity which “generally remained low”, but it and Morgan Stanley both pointed to commodities as a relative bright spot.
Overall, Goldman Sachs’ profits tumbled 11pc to $1.95bn, and group revenues fell 8pc to $9.3bn – although this still put the bank ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Chief executive Lloyd Blankfein said he was “generally pleased” with the performance.
"Investment Banking and Investment Management generated solid results, while market sentiment shifted throughout the quarter, constraining client activity in various parts of our franchise,” he said.
Revenues in its equities trading arm slumped by 17pc to $1.6bn, putting Goldman behind Morgan Stanley, whose equivalent unit increased sales to $1.7bn.
Goldman said “levels of activity generally remained low” but, like Morgan Stanley, noted that commodities had provided one bright spot.
However, Mr Blankfein remained bullish about the outlook. “Our collection of businesses gives the firm significant room for growth as economic conditions broadly improve and we continue to remain focused on prudently managing our capital and cost structure,” he said.
His comments echo remarks by JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon, who last week shrugged off a disappointing set of results by saying that things “change on a dime”.
JP Morgan suffered a 24pc drop in fixed-income trading, leading the decline across most of Wall Street and contributing to what was its worst set of results since the banking crisis began.
Separately, BlackRock, the world’s largest wealth manager, also delivered a strong set of results. First-quarter profits rose 20pc to $756m, as investors poured their cash into long-term funds.
The New York business, which manages $4.4trn of assets, said the size of that portfolio has been increasing every single day, despite the recent market turmoil.
"We didn't see any truly long-term investor behaviour changes. They were consistently in the market,” he said.
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