Morgan Stanley's changing of the guard
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Morgan Stanley has staked its future on wealth management, and soon it will place bets on a successor to Chairman and CEO James Gorman.
The head of the Wall Street bank, whose surname is an anagram of his employer, will step aside within 12 months. Ever since the financial crisis of 2007-08, the institution has wagered heavily on the business of managing money and assets for affluent clients. Gorman, who became CEO in 2010?and chairman in 2012, is not just one of the longest-reigning U.S. bank chiefs — he’s also the architect of that highly profitable bet.?
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While the bank is planning roughly 3,000 jobs cuts from its roster of 82,000 employees by July, financial advisors and their support staff will be largely spared. Nearly half of the bank’s revenue came from wealth management last quarter, making it the only major division of the Wall Street giant to report both a revenue and profit bump over the past year.?
Numbers at the wealth management unit are eye-popping. It pulled in nearly $110 billion of net new assets over the first three months of this year, pushing the bank’s total client assets to $6 trillion. Morgan Stanley aims to nearly double that figure to $10 trillion in three years.
Amid Gorman’s impending exit, who’s on tap to steer the institution and its flagship wealth management franchise?
Industry insiders peg Andy Saperstein, a co-president and head of wealth management; Ted Pick, a co-president and head of institutional securities and co-head of corporate strategy; and Dan Simkowitz, the head of investment management and co-head of corporate strategy. All three are steeped in the bank’s core products and services.
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