Morgan Stanley's global wealth management unit shrugged off concerns the US is heading for recession by posting increased profits and assets in the bank's first quarter results.

Pre-tax income for wealth management was $254m for the three months from the start of December, up 12% on the same period the previous year. Total client assets grew 5% in the quarter to $722bn. The unit's pre-tax margin rose to 16%, compared with 15% a year ago, according to Wealth Bulletin, part of the Dow Jones group that owns Financial News.