Morgan Stanley Adds ex-Goldman Team to Lehman Converts in LatAm Bulk-Up

Matthew Smith

23 January 2007

Just days after Morgan Stanley announced it hired a team of ex-Lehman Brothers’ private bankers to build its Latin American Private Wealth Business, the investment firm today announced it hired an additional team of 10 ex-Goldman Sachs investment professionals. The ex-Goldman team brought with it $3 billion in assets to the rival investment firm, according to a Morgan Stanley statement. Six of the ex-Goldman team will be joining the ex-Lehman team in the group’s new Private Wealth office in Miami; while the other four members will be based in Geneva, to develop the Morgan Stanley’s Swiss Private Banking offering to Latin America. “This is largest external team we have hired in Private Wealth Management, and the third major team we’ve added in the past two months to serve Latin America,” said James Gorman, Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management president. The new team of six will comprise of three investment representatives and three supporting staff. They will join the team of four ex-Lehman employees – announced on Friday last week – all of whom will report to Ernesto de la Fe, managing director and head of Latin America. According to Mr de la Fe, Morgan Stanley’s new Miami office will primarily serve ultra high net worth Latin American clients with $20 million or more in investable assets. In an interview with Genevan newspaper Le Temps, Mr Gorman, said his company, largely absent until now from offshore wealth management, intended to invest massively in the next two years to catch up on its market share, without putting short-term profits at risk. Morgan Stanley’s private wealth business currently provides investment and private banking services to ultra-high net worth individuals, families and related institutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.