“These guys are very control-oriented and they want to work as long as they can”, Michael Karp, head of recruitment firm Options Group, said after the changes at Morgan Stanley became public. His elevation to president makes him the second most powerful executive at Morgan Stanley and the obvious successor to Gorman, who is almost six years into a turnaround plan.
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Greg Fleming, Morgan Stanley’s head of wealth management, is leaving the bank, according to a memo on Wednesday. Further, we expect that the strategic shift Morgan Stanley is undertaking in its FICC business should be positive for returns and the valuation of Morgan Stanley shares.
A gregarious former accountant who grew up in the ranks of Morgan Stanley’s debt-capital-markets and fixed-income divisions, Mr. Kelleher joined the firm in 1989.
Kelleher, 58, who led the investment banking and trading division, now also gains responsibility for the brokerage, Chief Executive Officer James Gorman said Wednesday in a memo to staff that was obtained by Bloomberg.
Morgan Stanley’s bond trading revenue slid 42 percent during the third quarter, in one of the bank’s worst performances since the financial crisis. Saperstein will move to wealth management from his current position of co-COO of the institutional-securities group.
It is the second time Mr Kelleher, a 27-year veteran of the bank, has won out in internal power struggles.
The surprise dual announcement of Mr. Kelleher’s promotion and Mr. Fleming’s exit underscores Morgan Stanley’s commitment to its core investment-banking and trading businesses, which Mr. Kelleher oversees.
O’Connor has worked in the firm’s wealth-management business for more than 30 years. Fleming also steered the bank through its merger with Citigroup Inc’s C.N Smith Barney brokerage.
Bandon native Colm Kelleher is the new president of global financial services giant Morgan Stanley.
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The division of wealth management directed by Mr. Fleming, alongside has been observed as the company’s strongest performing part. Mr Fleming served as president and chief operating officer at Merrill Lynch from June 2007 to early 2009. “Greg Fleming has made a decision to leave the Firm to pursue other opportunities”.
