JPMorgan Chase reported third quarter earnings at a new high of $3.4 billion, 2 per cent up on 2006. The figures included a $1.3 billion write-down on leveraged loans net of fees. Private banking assets under management were up 6 per cent to $196 billion, private client AuMs up 2 per cent to $60 billion and retail up 1 per cent to $304 billion. At the investment bank, net income fell 70 per cent to $296 million, results described as “pretty good” by chief executive Jamie Dimon. There were mark-downs of $339 million net of hedges on collateralised debt obligations; Mr Dimon said his bank had been “ahead of the game” on subprime mortgages, where hedges more than offset the mark-downs. Treasury services and asset management both did well; the bank had $1.2 billion in assets under management for the third quarter, an increase of 5 per cent from the previous quarter, driven in large part by growth in liquidity strategies. It had $368 billion in liquidity assets at end September 2007, up 11 per cent from the previous quarter. For the twelve months, AuMs were up 24 per cent, driven by liquidity and alternative assets which both touched 31 per cent. Institutional AuMs were $603 billion, up 7 per cent from the second quarter. This growth allowed the asset management business to post a record net income of $521 million for the quarter, up 6 per cent from the second quarter and 51 per cent on last year.