Displaying items by tag: Morgan Stanley

Major U.S. banks have continued to reduce their holdings in state and local government debt, decreasing their exposure by $3 billion in the third quarter. This trend was led by JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, which together accounted for over half of the reduction. 

Other institutions, including State Street, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley, also cut back on their municipal bond investments. This marks the third consecutive quarter of declining investments, the longest such retreat since 1996, driven largely by the reduced tax benefits following the corporate tax cuts. 

The banks' diminished demand has negatively impacted long-term municipal bonds, which have underperformed other maturities. However, the third-quarter reduction indicates a slower pace of the overall pullback compared to earlier in the year.

Finsum: Now might be an opportunity for those seeking value to consider munis as they are getting such little attention. 

Morgan Stanley expanded its ETF lineup with the introduction of the Eaton Vance Total Return Bond ETF (EVTR) and the Eaton Vance Short Duration Municipal Income ETF (EVSM). The bank is joining many of its peers in converting fixed income mutual funds into active fixed income ETFs. 

EVTR focuses on seeking total return through diversified investments in fixed-income securities, including corporate, municipal, U.S. government, and asset-backed securities. EVTR is actively managed and has an expense ratio of 0.32%. Its holdings have an average duration of 6.5 years and an average yield of 4.4%. 

EVSM aims to provide investors with tax-exempt current income by predominantly investing in municipal securities with a short-term focus. The fund has a net expense ratio of 0.19%. The average duration of its holdings is 1.75 years, with an average yield of 4.7%.  

Both funds were originally highly ranked mutual funds, with EVTR's predecessor, MSIFT Core Plus Fixed Income Portfolio, achieving a ten-year track record in the top decile, and EVSM's precursor, the MSIFT Short Duration Municipal Income Portfolio, ranking in the top third of its category over five years.

With these additions, Morgan Stanley now offers 14 ETFs in the U.S. and has more than $1 billion in total assets, despite introducing its first ETF early last year. Like many other asset managers, Morgan Stanley is looking to capitalize on increased demand for ETFs and active fixed-income strategies. 

Finsum: Morgan Stanley is joining many of its peers in converting mutual funds into active ETFs with the launch of the Eaton Vance Total Return Bond ETF and the Eaton Vance Short Duration Municipal Income ETF.

For banks, the last couple of years have brought significant challenges due to higher rates. For Main Street banks, they are forced to pay higher rates on deposits, while they have made loans at much lower rates. Wall Street banks are facing an environment where IPOs, M&A activity, and corporate issues are at low levels, in part due to the Fed’s hawkish stance according to a Bloomberg article by Sridhar Natarajan.

However, one area of growth for Wall Street-centric banks has been in wealth management. For Morgan Stanley, its wealth management division produced $6.6 billion in pretax profits in 2022. However, it recently set a goal of $12 billion in pretax profits for its wealth management division in the coming years. 

It sees growth in the division coming from more assets, an increase in lending, and markets growing in size. It also is targeting $1 trillion in net new assets over the next 3 years. 

For the full year, it’s expected to earn $10.8 billion in net income which is a drop from $11.4 billion last year. Most of the decline is due to investment banking fees which are projected to be about 40% of their 2021 levels. 

Finsum: Morgan Stanley is projecting that its wealth management’s pretax profits will nearly double over the coming years with asset growth a key driver. 

First Republic Bank’s recruiting spree is paying off with the recent announcement that the bank nabbed a Morgan Stanley team managing $1.2 billion in assets for ultra-wealthy clients in Los Angeles. The six-person team is led by advisors Alexander H. Kadish, Nicholas Davey, and J.P. Garofalo, who generated a combined $9.2 million in revenue. The team, which specializes in helping executives with large corporate stock plan holdings, also moved with three support staff. In addition, another former member of their team, Robert A. Daly Jr., will continue to work with the team as an outside consultant. Daly and Kadish moved the team to Morgan Stanley in 2016 from J.P. Morgan Advisors. Kadish has worked at six firms over his 21-year career. He started at discount broker Banc of America Securities in 2001, then shifted to Smith Barney in 2003 and worked for Jefferies & Co before joining J.P. Morgan Advisors in 2010. Daly started his career at J.P. Morgan’s Bear, Stearns & Co. in 1998 and also worked at UBS Wealth Management USA before rejoining J.P. Morgan in 2009. Garofalo started with Wells Fargo Advisors in 2013 and has worked for Morgan Stanley, Ares Investor Services, and Nuveen Securities before returning to Morgan in 2020. The addition of the team brings First Republic’s 2023 recruiting total to four teams managing a combined $4.6 billion in assets.

Finsum:First Republic Bank lured away a $9.2 million team from Morgan Stanley bringing its recruiting tally for 2023 to $4.6 billion in assets.

Morgan Stanley recently announced the launch of an exchange-traded fund platform with the listing of six Calvert ETFs on NYSE Arca, including an actively managed fixed-income ETF. The Calvert Ultra-Short Investment Grade ETF (CVSB) will focus on investment-grade debt issuers. Managers Eric Jesionowski and Brian S. Ellis seek to maximize income, to the extent consistent with the preservation of capital, through investment in short-term bonds and income-producing securities. Investors will gain diversified short-term fixed-income exposure to an actively managed portfolio of high-quality bonds of issuers that Calvert believes are demonstrating effective management of key ESG risks and opportunities. The other five ETFs include four indexed ESG equity strategies and an active ESG strategy. The funds include the Calvert US Large-Cap Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Index ETF (CDEI), the Calvert US Large-Cap Core Responsible Index ETF (CVLC), the Calvert International Responsible Index ETF (CVIE), the Calvert US-Mid Cap Core Responsible Index ETF (CVMC), and the Calvert US Select Equity ETF (CVSE). As part of the announcement, Dan Simkowitz, head of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said the following in a statement. “This launch is the first step in MSIM’s development of a robust ETF platform that supports products across our businesses, asset classes, jurisdictions, and brands.”

Finsum:Morgan Stanley announced the launch of an ETF platform and the listing of six Calvert ETFs, including an actively managed ultra-short investment grade ETF.