In an interview with Genevan newspaper LeTemps, James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s global head of wealth management, said that his company, larg...

In an interview with Genevan newspaper LeTemps, James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s global head of wealth management, said that his company, largely absent until now from offshore wealth management, intends to invest massively in the next two years to catch up on its market share, without putting short-term profits at risk. The bank expects to expand in Latin America (from Miami and New York), Asia (from Hong Kong and Singapore) and Europe (from London). Mr Gorman said that although the bank is modestly represented in this market in Europe, it has all the skills needed to deal with the complex business affairs of wealthy families; it wants to base its appeal to this potential clientele on a broad platform of products and services, notably access to capital markets and merchant banking, taking advantage of the bank’s name. These ambitions will translate into a sustained growth in private banking staff, for example in Europe and the Middle East, from 80 at present to 100 by the end of 2007. As Mr Gorman set out this strategy, Morgan have hired a team of four investment professionals to serve the Latin American market, to be based in Miami. The team joins Morgan Stanley from Lehman Brothers, and will report to Ernesto de la Fe, managing director and head of Latin America. The team includes three investments representatives, executive director Bernardo Acebal, executive director Sergio Mariscal, vice president Leo Roche and sales assistant, Marcelo Bestard. Donald Herrema, head of private wealth management, Americas, said “These appointments reinforce our commitment to the Latin American market and expansion plans for the region.”