Morgan Stanley’s new wealth-management chief has moved to streamline executive ranks and integrate business lines in a restructuring of the retail- brokerage unit, according to a report by Dow Jones.

Ellyn McColgan, president and chief operating officer of Morgan Stanley’s global wealth-management unit, has expanded the unit’s operating committee and created a management committee that represents a broad spectrum of officials in the unit's business lines.

The changes "will enable us to efficiently plan and lead our many initiatives for growth," Ms McColgan said in an internal memo, adding that they also will "assure representation from across the breadth and complexity of our business," the newswire reported.

The recently announced restructuring is her first major move since taking over in April from James Gorman, who was promoted to co-president of Morgan Stanley.

Ms McColgan is not expected to shift from the business strategies initiated by her predecessor, but her restructuring signals a better integration of other business lines, such as the capital-markets group, into the unit’s management.

Under the new management structure, the eight executives who now report directly to Ms McColgan include Michael Armstrong, who heads private wealth management; Jeff Brodsky, head of human resources; Jeff Gelfand, chief financial officer; Shelley Hanan, chief administrative officer; Doug Ketterer, products group; and Andy Saperstein, who heads national sales.

Laya Khadjavi, who will head a newly configured Markets Group in charge of overseeing the unit's capital markets, middle markets, strategic lead management, and investment banking advisory and mortgage operations, will also directly report to McColgan. Ray Harris, vice chairman, will also be part of the executive committee.

All of the eight executives will be members of an operating committee that will meet monthly, and is comprised of 19 other officials from the national sales, private wealth management, products/market group, and support group.