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Morgan Stanley To Drop Smith Barney Brand In "About A Month" - Report

Morgan Stanley’s brokerage joint venture with Citigroup, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, plans to drop the Smith Barney name in “about a month,” The Wall Street Journal reports, citing a person involved with the planned change.
As previously reported by this publication, Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman told an investor conference in June that the US bank will eventually remove the Smith Barney brand to operate as Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.
Morgan Stanley agreed in 2009 to acquire Smith Barney from Citigroup in stages, with a timetable to complete its takeover by 2014. The US firm owns 51 per cent of the venture and has said in recent months that it had approached Citi about acquiring an additional 14 per cent for an undisclosed sum.
The move comes at a time when a number of wealth management firms have adjusted their brands or reinvigorated them. This publication recently released a major report (to view more, click here) in association with Coutts, the UK private bank, on the topic of the importance of branding and marketing.