“Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2024, the deposit mix will continue to be the primary driver of net interest income.”

In context

“ar, net new asset growth was driven by the advisor led channel across existing clients, new clients and net recruiting. Transactional revenues in the fourth quarter were $1.1 billion. Excluding the impact of DCP, transactional revenues increased slightly year-over-year as clients invested in structured products and fixed income products. Bank lending balances of $147 billion remain roughly flat, consistent with the environment. Total deposits increased 2% quarter over quarter to $346 billion, driven by continued demand for our savings offering from our wealth management channel and a modest increase in sweep balances. Net interest income was $1.9 billion in the quarter. The sequential decrease was primarily driven by the mix of average deposits and the blended deposit cost in the quarter. Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2024, the deposit mix will continue to be the primary driver of net interest income. The modest sequential build and sweeps was promising and suggests we are nearing a level of frictional sweeps and client accounts. Assuming that the forward curve holds and that our assumptions around client behavior materialize, we would expect NII in the first quarter to be roughly in line with the fourth quarter. Our asset led gathering strategy remains unchanged, and we expect it to deliver margin expansion over time. The path is clear and includes the following objectives -- First, increase relationships through our channels. Second -- migrate assets to advice. Third -- deepen existing client relationships with enhanced capabilities including new products and solutions, and finally, realize scale benefits of our investments over time. These efforts are well underway. In the year, we”