Morgan Stanley's Wealth Boss Tours US Cities To Assure Brokers Over Tech Concerns

Tom Burroughes

6 September 2012

The wealth management head of Morgan Stanley, Greg Fleming, has just finished a tour of seven US cities as part of an attempt to stem a broker revolt over the company’s new technology system that is hampering the ability of brokers to acquire new clients, according to FOX Business Network.

The tour between Fleming and brokers at the firm’s biggest offices has produced mixed results, the news service said, citing unnamed sources.

Morgan Stanley could not be reached for comment as WealthBriefing went to press outside of US business hours. One detail that is unclear is whether the technology is an in-house Morgan Stanley system or one that has been installed by an outside technology business.

Brokers have not left the firm in significant numbers amid the technology glitches, but anger remains high at the firm, with many still threatening to leave if the problems with the new system aren't fixed soon, the report said.

Morgan Stanley’s new technology system for its brokerage sales force was sold by senior management, including chief executive James Gorman, as a way to equip the firm’s brokers with the modern technology needed to transact business in an environment where clients demand services above and beyond the simple tasks of buying and selling stocks.

Yet far from allowing brokers to engage in complex derivative bets, and foreign exchange transactions, the system has repeatedly broken down since it was implemented earlier in the year; brokers have complained that the system is unable to complete simple tasks as well as the firm’s old system, the report said.

The situation has reached an acute stage in recent weeks, as high-level brokerage teams have threatened to leave the firm if the system isn’t fixed, people with knowledge of the matter say. “The problem is that this thing just doesn’t work,” one brokerage executive told the FOX Business Network.

That prompted Fleming to make a personal appeal to top brokers to give the firm more time to fix the system; in recent weeks he has visited large offices in Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami and New York.

“As he visits offices around the country, Greg Fleming has this message: ‘We're going to fix issues with the new technology and operations platform and make it easier for you to do business.’ Some improvements will be made quickly but some will take longer. This message is being well-received, and we've seen no spike in attrition of financial advisors and no threats of mass defections,” Morgan Stanley was quoted as saying in a statement.