Morgan Stanley's wealth business sparkled in
The wealth management unit pulled in just under $110 billion of net new assets in the first quarter of this year, a haul that helped bring the firm to $6 trillion of total client assets — and that puts it ahead of schedule to reach its goal of adding $1 trillion in net new client assets every three years, eventually reaching $10 trillion in total assets. That equates to a goal of adding $333 billion in net new assets each year, or around $83 billion per quarter.
Morgan Stanley overall
The company beat Wall Street analyst expectations with earnings per share of $1.70, 6% more than the analyst
"While the performance of the overall business was strong, the results reflected the impact of the environment," Morgan Stanley's CEO and chairman James Gorman said in an earnings call Wednesday.
Although the firm does not disclose its advisor headcount, analysts commented on the call about Morgan Stanley's apparent success in recruiting from firms like
"Obviously, we're attracting financial advisors from — we're seen as somewhat of a safe harbor, I guess, across the industry," Gorman said, without naming First Republic.
Gorman emphasized that the wealth business is growing in many ways, not just recruiting. He pointed to strong growth in the workplace channel in bringing in held-away assets. "The workplace conversion is a massive opportunity now that we're focused on," he said.
"If you ask an advisor right now, which is the most stable and most reliable of the brokerage firms, they're all going to tell you it's Morgan Stanley," industry recruiter Phil Waxelbaum said in an interview.
The firm faces
To see the main takeaways from Morgan Stanley's first-quarter earnings, scroll down the slideshow. For coverage of the firm's fourth-quarter earnings,