The joint venture boss said the entity is making the most of Morgan Stanley's knowledge to develop the wealth management business.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is exploiting the expertise of Morgan Stanley to help expand in the wealth management business, the head of the pair’s Japanese joint venture has reportedly said.

Japan’s largest bank is “consulting with Morgan Stanley’s wealth management people about various aspects including product lineup", Saburo Araki, chief executive officer of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co, reportedly told Reuters. MUMSS is a brokerage and investment bank, a product of MUFG’s $9 billion investment into Morgan Stanley in 2008. The Japanese bank now owns just under a quarter of its Wall Street partner, the report continued. 

The interview was conducted before it was reported that the joint venture faces a Y218 million ($2 million) fine for allegedly manipulating prices in the Japanese government bond futures market. (See report here.)

MUFG has made wealth management a priority, targeting clients with at least Y300 million ($2.74 million) in assets. It aims to increase such assets under management to Y16.3 trillion in the year through March 2024, from Y12 trillion in the last financial year, the news service said. 

Araki said MUFG does not intend to build its own investment banking franchise which would make it unnecessary to rely on Morgan Stanley. “It’s impossible. We cannot match their global network with investors and issuers,” Araki added.