With revenue from their joint venture with Smith Barney enjoying solid growth in the fourth quarter, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has decided to realign their Private Wealth Management division in hopes of generating even more revenue than the $3.1 billion they finished with for the quarter that ended on December 31.
The $3.1 billion in revenue the unit produced was over twice what they generated in the prior quarter.
A memo discussed on the Dow Jones Newswires was the source of the information, and while being confirmed as being accurate, wasn’t commented on by a spokesman for Morgan Stanley when he was contacted.
Employees of the joint venture were the ones the memo was sent to.
The practicals of the changes include moving Michael Armstrong to manage the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney markets group while also leading the international Private Wealth Management unit. Heading up the U.S. Private Wealth Management division will be U.S. Wealth Management Chief Andy Saperstein. The two will report directly to Charles Johnston
Johnston said concerning the purpose of the changes will be to “strengthen the partnership in the U.S. between PWM and our broader wealth management business and launch a focused growth initiative in key international markets.”
Morgan also has launched another business within the company for alternative investment products they will market to larger investors like pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors.
Heading up the new unit will be David Barrett. While Barrett is based in New York, the capital-raising business also has a presence in Dubai, Hong Kong and London.
Also hired for a key role in the new business is Jenkin Leung, who used to manage the Lehman Brothers’ institutional sales team as well as being the past CEO of hedge fund based in Hong Kong named Hindsight.
