Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Financial services
Founded	January 13, 2009; 17 years ago in New York City, United States
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Area served	Global
Products	Wealth management, retail brokerage, asset management
Number of employees	18,500 (financial advisors) (2009)
Parent	Morgan Stanley
Website	www.morganstanley.com/wealth-management

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is a global financial services firm based in the United States, focusing primarily on retail brokerage. It functions as the wealth and asset management branch within Morgan Stanley.

On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup revealed an agreement whereby Citigroup would transfer 51% ownership of Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley, resulting in the creation of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which was formerly a part of Citi Global Wealth Management. This merged brokerage network comprises 17,646 financial advisors overseeing $2 trillion in assets under management. Its clientele spans individual investors, small to medium enterprises, large corporations, nonprofit organizations, and family foundations.

By September 25, 2012, Morgan Stanley rebranded its U.S. wealth management division as "Morgan Stanley Wealth Management," while maintaining the broker-dealer entity name "Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC."

History

Smith Barney & Co. originated in 1938 through the consolidation of Charles D. Barney & Co. (established 1873) and Edward B. Smith & Co. (established 1892). The latter firm expanded notably after integrating securities professionals from Guaranty Trust Company following the implementation of the Glass-Steagall Act.

In 1975, Smith Barney combined with Harris, Upham & Co., forming Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., which was later renamed Smith Barney Inc. in 1982. During the 1980s, the company became widely recognized for television advertisements featuring John Houseman with the slogan "They make money the old-fashioned way. They earn it."

Ownership of Smith Barney passed to Sanford I. Weill's Primerica Corporation in the late 1980s. In 1988, Commercial Credit acquired Primerica for $1.5 billion. By 1993, following acquisitions including a stake in Travelers Insurance and Shearson from American Express, the firm was renamed Travelers Group Inc., retaining the Smith Barney name for its brokerage operations.

In that same year, Weill reacquired Shearson for $1 billion and merged it into Smith Barney, appointing Joe Plumeri as president of the consolidated company; however, Plumeri's leadership was short-lived due to internal management disputes.

In September 1997, Travelers purchased Salomon Inc., merging it with its investment division to form Salomon Smith Barney. The following April, Travelers merged with Citicorp to establish Citigroup, then recognized as the largest financial services institution globally.

At the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Smith Barney occupied over 1.2 million square feet across floors 28 to 45 in 7 World Trade Center, making it the building’s largest tenant.

Sale to Morgan Stanley

Amidst the 2008 financial crisis, Citigroup encountered substantial losses tied to retained collateralized debt obligation holdings and required federal assistance through a government bailout. To bolster capital reserves, Citigroup opted to divest certain "non-core" assets. On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup announced a joint venture combining Smith Barney with Morgan Stanley's Global Wealth Management Group. Morgan Stanley invested $2.7 billion upfront to acquire a 51% interest, establishing Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

Although Morgan Stanley was also under financial pressure at that time, it benefited from a $9 billion capital injection by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in 2008, which secured a 21% equity stake.

The joint venture commenced operations on June 1, 2009, integrating Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division—including assets from former Dean Witter—with Citi’s Smith Barney brokerage business. This new entity produced roughly $14 billion in net revenue, maintained around 1,000 offices worldwide, employed approximately 18,500 financial advisors, and served nearly 6.8 million client households.

On September 17, 2009, Citigroup disclosed plans to divest its remaining ownership interest in the joint venture to Morgan Stanley, thereby consolidating full control.

Acquisition history

The company's significant mergers and acquisitions highlight its growth and strategic strengthening within the financial services sector:

External links