Large financial institutions had a good third quarter this year,with most reporting stronger earnings and revenues than last yearand in the prior quarter.

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Some broker-dealers that also have investment bankingoperations — like Morgan Stanley — saw activities like deal-makingimprove.

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Many — but not all — with large consumer banking businesses,such as Bank of America, JPMorgan and Citi, also had a positivequarter.

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Where are their results growing overall? Loans and deposits,according to analysts.

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Plus, asset levels have been rising along with the financialmarkets, while rising interest rates have been boostingmargins.

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Large financial firms also have been investing in technology,and that has led to improvements in efficiency, net income andoperating margins in some cases.

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Still, some broker-dealers struggled due to regulatory andlegal issues, as well as other challenges — such as assetoutflows.

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There may be good news for many of these firms, though, ifcorporate tax rates of 20-25% make it through Congress.

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"In our view, there could be some general short-term slowdown indeal activity when policies are clarified or finalized, althoughsome companies may be incentivized to accelerate M&A ahead ofimpending changes," KBW analysts wrote in a recentnote. "Longer term, we believe that changes to the status quocould drive higher M&A volumes as long as economic growthremains modestly positive and access to free cash remains modestand the financing markets remain healthy," the analystsexplained.

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Read on for more details on the 13 best- and worst-performingbroker-dealers of Q3 2017.

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13th place: Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services said itsthird-quarter performance improved significantly in the period, butthe firm still reported losses, so they get the booby prize.

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Its net loss available to shareholders after payment ofpreferred dividends, was $4.8 million, or -$0.02, pershare compared to net loss available to shareholders of $15.3million, or -$0.08 per share, per share in the year-ago period. Itscorporate operations made a profit in the third quarter, with itsnet income totaling $3.4 million vs. a loss of $7.5 million in thethird quarter of 2016.

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Third quarter 2017 revenues were $322.3 million, a 17.5%increase from Q3’16. Advisory fee revenue jumped 23% to $146.4million, while commissions revenue rose 3% to $131.5 million. Also,investment banking revenue improved 233% to $14.7 million.

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The company’s operations include several broker-dealers andregistered investment advisory firms: Securities American, TriadAdvisors, Investacorp, KMS and SSN.

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“Ladenburg continues to strengthen its position as a leader inthe independent advisory and brokerage business, as our nationwidenetwork of approximately 4,000 financial advisors provideshigh-quality independent advice, trustworthy financial planning andinvestment solutions to the mass affluent segment,” explainedPresident & CEO Richard Lampen, in a press release.

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Client assets, Lampen says, grew 16% year over year to nearly$153 billion, while advisory assets expanded close to 22% to $66billion.

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12th place: Waddell & Reed (WDR)

Waddell & Reed Financial had net income of$38.0 million, or $0.45 per share, down29%from $53.8 million, or $0.65 per share, in the thirdquarter of 2016.

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Operating revenues for Q3’17 were $289.4 million, down 5% fromthe year-ago period “due primarily to lower average assets undermanagement, which was partly offset by a 2.5 basis point increasein our effective fee rate,” the company said in a pressrelease.

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Total assets under management were $80.9 billion at the end ofSeptember about the same as the prior quarter and 5% lower than thethird quarter of 2016.

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Net outflows of $2.8 billion during the current quarterincreased slightly compared to net outflows of $2.5 billion in theprior quarter, but improved compared to net outflows of $4.9billion during the same period last year.

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The firm has 1,481 financial advisors with about $55 billion inassets under administration — $20.7 billion of which are infee-based accounts.

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“While we have made progress toward stabilizing our assets undermanagement, we must now increase our focus on reenergizing organicgrowth,” said CEO Philip J. Sanders, in a statement.

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11th place: Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo had an 18% drop in its earnings,largely due to a $1 billion charge it took for mortgage-relatedregulatory investigations and other expenses. Its totalnon-interest expenses for the period were $14.4 billion.

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Net income dropped to $4.60 billion, or $0.84 a share, from$5.64 billion, or $1.03 billion a share, a year earlier. Totalrevenue fell 2% to $21.9 billion.

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CEO Tim Sloan said in a statement: "Over the past year, we havemade fundamental changes to transform Wells Fargo as part of oureffort to rebuild trust and build a better bank.”

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The Wealth and Investment Management unit includes 14,564advisors, down 3 from a year ago. Its revenue grew slightly from ayear ago to $4.25 billion from $4.10 billion, while its net incomejumped 5% to $710 million.

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Total client assets stand at $1.9 trillion, up 9% from a yearago. In the retail brokerage business, which has some $1.6 trillionof assets, advisory assets grew 14% to $522 billion. Average loanbalances expanded 10% from last year “largely due to continuedgrowth in non-conforming mortgage loans,” according to WellsFargo.

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10th place: Goldman Sachs (GS)

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Goldman Sachs improved its earnings2% to $2.13 billion, or $5.02 per share, from $2.09billion, or $4.88 per share, a year ago. Net revenues improved 2%as well in the third quarter to $8.33 billion.

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Assets under supervision now stand at $1.46 trillion, includingnet inflows of $13 billion.

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“Our overall performance this year has been solid and provides agood foundation on which to

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execute and deliver our growth initiatives,” said Chairman &CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, in a statement.

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Net revenues in Investment Banking rose 17% year over year to$1.80, while this measure in Financial Advisory services was $911million, 38% higher than the third quarter of 2016 due to anincrease in completed mergers and acquisitions.

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Net revenues in Institutional Client Services dropped 17% to$3.12 billion in the most-recent period, while results in FixedIncome, Currency and Commodities Client Execution fell 26% to $1.45billion. Net revenues in Equities declined 7% to $1.67 billion.

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On the upside, net revenues in Investing & Lending grew 35%to $1.88 billion, and they expanded 3% in Investment Management to$1.53 billion.

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9th place: JPMorgan (JPM)

JPMorgan said its net income rose 7% inthe third quarter to $6.7 billion, or $1.76 per share, from $6.3billion, or $1.58 per share, a year ago.

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Net revenue improved 3% to $26.2 billion, while net interestincome grew 10% to $13.1 billion.

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“JPMorgan Chase delivered solid results in a competitiveenvironment this quarter with steady core growth across theplatform,” said Chairman & CEO Jamie Dimon in a statement. “Andfor the first time, the firm led the nation in total U.S. depositsas consumers and businesses continue to view us as their partner ofchoice.”

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The Asset & Wealth Management unit had a 6% jump in netrevenue to $3.25 billion, while its net income improved 21% to $674million. Its pre-tax margin in Q3’17 was 33%

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Assets under management grew 10% year over year to $1.9trillion, “reflecting higher market levels and net inflows intoliquidity and long-term products,” according to the bank.

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This business includes 2,581 financial advisors — up from 2,452in the prior quarter and 2,560 a year ago.

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8th place: Citigroup (C)

Citigroup surpassed estimates with third-quarterprofits of $4.13 billion, or $1.42 per share, up 8% fromthe year-ago period.

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“We delivered a very strong quarter, showing the balance of ourfranchise by both product and geography and highlighting ourmultiple engines of client-led growth," Citi CEO Michael Corbatsaid in a statement.

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Revenues improved 2% year over year to $18.2 billion, which alsobeat expectations. Results benefited from a $355 million gain tiedto the sale of Citi’s fixed-income analytics business.

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Also, the Institutional Clients Group boosted its revenue 9% to$9.2 billion; its net income jumped 15% to $3 billion. Meanwhile,fixed-income trading declined 16% to $2.9 billion from $3.4billion.

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"We had revenue increases in many of the products we have beeninvesting in, tightly managed our expenses, and again saw loangrowth in both our consumer and institutional businesses," Corbatexplained.

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Investment banking revenues improved 14% from last year to $1.23billion, while global consumer banking’s revenues rose 3% to $8.4billion.

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7th place: Morgan Stanley (MS)

Morgan Stanley reported third-quarter earningsthat beat analysts’ estimates. Profits grew11.5% year over year to $1.78 billion, or $0.93 cents a share.Total revenue moved up 3% to $8.91 billion.

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The firm’s wealth management business grew sales 9% year overyear to $4.22 billion. Still, Morgan Stanley saw its total advisorheadcount decline slightly in the period ended Sept. 30 and saidwas leaving the Protocol for Broker Recruiting as part ofits drive to make new investments in its advisors.

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Net income in the wealth group rose 24% year over year, andpretax margin was a record 26.5%.

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It had 15,759 financial advisors as of Sept. 30 vs. 15,777 onJune 30 and 15,856 a year ago.

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As of Sept. 30, Morgan Stanley’s registered reps had averageclient assets of $146 million; their yearly fees & commissionsaveraged $1.07 million. Total assets for the wealth unit were $2.31trillion, 43% of which is fee-based. Loans to clients totaled $78billion.

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6th place: LPL Financial (LPLA)

LPL Financial had net income of $58.14 million,or $0.63 per share, vs. $51.95 million, or $0.58 per share, a yearago — an increase of about 11.9% meeting equity analysts’estimates.

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Revenue, though, fell short of analysts’ estimates by about $20million, according to Seeking Alpha, at $1.06 billion, whichrepresents a 4% increase from last year.

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In addition, LPL says its total advisor count decreased to14,253, is down 124 advisors from 2016 and fell 3 from July 30,2017.

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“We remained focused on our strategic priorities of growing ourcore business and executing with excellence in the third quarter,”said Dan Arnold, president and CEO, in a statement.

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LPL’s retention rate for advisor fees & commissions thisyear stands at 95%. Before several large groups departed, itsproduction retention rate in the first three quarters of 2016 was97%.

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The firms total level of brokerage and advisory assets grew 11%year over year to $560 billion. Total net new assets were $2.9billion, representing a 2% yearly growth rate.

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Net new advisory assets expanded by $6.9 billion, while net newbrokerage assets fell (or had outflows of) $4.0 billion.

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5th place: Raymond James (RJF)

Raymond James’ net income rose 12.7% fromlast year to $193.5 million on Sept. 30 thanks to improvements inthe Private Client Group, Raymond James Bank and AssetManagement.

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Its beat analyst estimates with adjusted earnings per share of$1.47 and revenue of $1.69 billion in the most-recent quarter.

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Across the firm, client assets under administration increased15% year over year to $692.9 billion, while financial assets undermanagement jumped 25% to $96.4 billion.

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CEO Paul Reilly said on a call with analysts that the firm’sadvisor headcount and recruiting pipeline “continue to grow.”Advisors who have committed to moving to the firm in the currentfiscal year have “about $80 million” in combined yearly fees andcommissions, Reilly added.

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The Private Client Group had net revenues of $1.17 billion, up21% from the prior year. Its pre-tax income was $142.3 million, a34% improvement over the year-ago period.

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Assets under administration stood at $659.5 billion, an increaseof 15% from September 2016 and 4% over June 2017/

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Private Client Group assets in fee-based accounts totaled $294.5billion, representing growth of 27% over the year-ago period and 6%from the earlier quarter.

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“The number of financial advisors reached arecord 7,346, lifted by exceptionally strong advisor recruiting andretention results as well as the successful integrations of Alex.Brown and 3Macs during the fiscal year,” the firm said in astatement.

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4th place: Bank of America (BAC)

Bank of America’s net income rose a solid12.8% in the third quarter to $5.59 billion, or $0.48 a share,vs. $4.95 billion, or $0.41 cents, in Q3’16. These results beatanalysts’ estimates.

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Total revenue, though, improved less than 1% to $21.8 billion,which did not top expectations. Revenue from trading stocks andbonds fell 15% from a year ago. On the bright side, Bank of Americasaid it had $11.4 billion in net interest income.

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At the same time, BofA announced a write-off of $900 million inbad loans, mainly associated with U.S. credit-card users, accordingto the statement.

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The Global Wealth & Investment Management had net income of$769 million, up 10% compared to the third quarter of 2016. Revenueof $4.6 billion for the quarter rose 6%.

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The group’s profit margin was 27% vs. 26% in Q3’16. Net interestincome was $1.5 billion. Asset flows were nearly $21 billion, andaverage loan balances were $154 billion. Total client assetsstood at close to $2.7 trillion.

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Merrill Lynch’s Thundering Herd of advisors grew 286 from Q3’16and 143 from Q2’17 to 14,954.

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In the third quarter, average fees and commissions fell to$994,000 per advisor from $1.04 million in the prior quarter;veteran reps saw a smaller decline to $1.30 million from $1.35million. The company said lower net interest income andtraining-program investments were to blame.

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3rd place: UBS

UBS Group AG reported a 14% jump in netincome to 946 million Swiss francs for the third quarter butmissed estimates.

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Revenues expanded 2% to about 7.15 billion Swiss francs, meetinganalysts’ expectations.

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“We again saw good results across our business divisions withAsia Pacific as an important driver of profitable growth. We remainfocused on disciplined execution and creating long-term value forour shareholders," CEO Sergio Ermotti, said in a statement.

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UBS Wealth Management Americas boosted its total operatingincome 7% to $2.13 billion. Its operating profit, though, fell1% to$326 million.

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The group has 6,861 advisors — down from 6,915 in the earlierquarter and 7,087 a year ago.

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Net outflows were $2.3 billion. Including interest and dividendincome, though, net inflows were $4.1 billion.

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The level of recruitment loans to financial advisors weakened to$2.68 billion in the third quarter of 2017 vs. $2.75 billion inQ2’17 and $3.18 billion in Q3’16.

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The level of total client assets stands at $1.25 trillion. Theunit has gross loans of $53 billion.

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2nd place: Stifel Financial (SF)

In the third quarter, Stifel reported a 29% surge inprofits to $66.5 million, or $0.89, vs. $52.8 million, or$0.69 per share, a year ago — beating equity analysts’estimates.

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The firm also topped revenue expectations with sales of $721.20million for the quarter, a jump of 12% from the year-agoperiod.

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Global wealth management brokerage revenues, however, were$158.3 million as of Sept. 30, a 4% decrease from Q3’16 and a 6%drop from Q2’17. Including asset management & service fees, thebroader wealth-management operations had sales of $454 million, ajump of 16% from Q3’17.

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When it announced its Q3 results, Stifel explained that it wasbuying the wealth-management business of Chicago-based ZieglerWealth Management, which has 57 private advisors and $4.8 billionin client assets, for an undisclosed amount.

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According to its third-quarter earnings, Stifel has 2,252financial advisors with some $265 billion in assets. Earlier thisyear, the St. Louis-headquartered firm wrapped up its purchase ofCity Financial, which had roughly 40 financial advisors acrosseight Indiana offices with roughly $4 billion in client assets atthe time.

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“We have worked with the management team at Ziegler in the pastand we are excited to add not only a growing and profitablebusiness to our platform but one whose culture of integrity andputting the client first is very similar to our own,” StifelChairman & CEO Ronald J. Kruszewski, in a statement.

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Best Broker-Dealer

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1st place: Ameriprise Financial (AMP)

Ameriprise Financial (AMP) said its net incomesoared 75% in the third quarter to $503 million, or $3.24 pershare, from $288 million, or $1.94 per share. Net revenues were$3.0 billion, down 1% from a year ago.

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The Advice & Wealth Management unit had total revenues of$1.4 billion, up 9% from the prior year, and pre-tax income of $298million, up 29%. The pre-tax profit margin for the group was21.5%

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“Ameriprise delivered a record third quarter driven bysignificant momentum in our Advice & Wealth Management businessand asset growth across the firm,” said Chairman & CEO JimCracchiolo in a statement.

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The company acquired IPI which recently added 215 advisors andabout $743 million in client assets to the group. The group now has1,994 employee advisors and 7,681 franchise reps for a totalheadcount of 9,890 (included the IPI reps).

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Average 12-month trailing fees & commissions per advisor is$550,000 vs. $511,000 a year ago.

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“We reported new highs in retail client flows, assets andadvisor productivity, and for the sixth consecutive quarter,increased client net inflows into fee-based investment advisoryaccounts,” added Cracchiolo. “We’re serving more clients in ourtarget markets of the affluent and mass affluent, as well asattracting quality advisors to Ameriprise.”