Longtime CEO and Chairman James Gorman Morgan Stanleysaid he would step down and become executive chairman within the next 12 months.
Gorman told the Wall Street investment bank’s annual shareholder meeting on Friday that the board had named “three very strong senior internal candidates” to succeed him.
He did not name any of these people.
Andy Saperstein, co-president of Morgan Stanley and head of Gorman & Co. Award-winning wealth management unityes extensive consideration Running alongside co-presidents and head of institutional securities Ted Pick and head of investment management Dan Simkowitz, Bloomberg said earlierThey are possible names, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed.
“The most important issue for shareholders, employees and customers is of course succession,” Gorman said by phone.
“No, I’m not just talking about TV series, I have absolutely no plans to go out like Logan Roy,” he said.He was referring to the aging 80-something CEO of the hit HBO show, who refused to step down and announce a successor, a rigidity that persisted even until his shocking death in the US season four And set off a bitter power struggle among his children.
inheritance is a risk For wealth management firms of all sizes. A A recent study Dimensional Fund Advisors Discovery lack of succession planning was the largest drag on consultant organic growth.
read more: Surviving the Successor: Navigating the Emotional Minefield of Transition Planning
“Advisors who responded to this challenge demonstrated, on average, 9 percentage points lower AUM growth and 7 percentage points lower revenue and client growth for the year,” the report authors wrote.
Firms that continue to lack such plans “decrease AUM, revenue and client growth rates by an average of 5 percentage points in the second year and similarly lower growth rates in the next two years,” the report said.
Gorman, who will be at the helm of Morgan Stanley for about 14 years when he leaves, said he is often asked about who, when and how he will eventually hand over.
“As we’ve said before, the board has a very thorough and rigorous succession planning process led by the Compensation, Management Development and Succession Committee,” he said. “This committee, in turn, reports to the full board, headed by our lead independent director.”
A specific date for the CEO transition has not been announced, Gorman said.
