Morgan Stanley’s Q3 profits jump 93 percent

Morgan Stanley joined the ranks of big banks to beat earnings expectations for the third quarter, thanks to its growing wealth management division and an upswing in trading activity.

Profit rose 93 percent to $1.7 billion, or 84 cents. After stripping out one-time items, per-share earnings of 65 cents topped the 54 cent consensus estimate.

Under CEO James Gorman, Morgan Stanley has been growing its asset management business, which surpassed $2 trillion in client funds. Revenue for that division hit $2.2 billion, up from $1.9 billion a year ago.

The bank’s bond, currency and commodity trading desk raked in $997 million in revenue, up from $835 million a year ago.

Big banks have reported better-than-expected fixed-income results this quarter, fueled by volatile global currency and interest-rate trading.