Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has recently awarded the chief executive officer post at its Australian wealth management unit to Harry Parkinson.

Parkinson, a senior broking executive, joined MSSB in 2006 as state manager for Melbourne. Prior to that, he was the CEO of the Bendigo Stock Exchange.

The decision follows the departure of Matthew Comyn, who has decided to return to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia after only five months with the company. Comyn used to be a managing director at Commonwealth.

Morgan Stanley assumed management control of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney - a joint venture with Citi - in June 2009 and has since been looking to expand in Australia.