Morgan Stanley execs call shots in JV with Citigroup

FWR Staff

14 April 2009

Smith Barney honchos outnumbered nine-to-five by former Morgan Stnley brass. The wealth-management joint venture between Morgan Stanley and Citigroup will be dominated by Morgan Stanley executives.

In January 2009, Citi agreed to exchange Smith Barney for a cash payment of $2.7 billion and 49% of the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture and. Morgan Stanley, which is combining its Global Wealth Management business with Smith Barney to create the new firm, gets 51% Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. The new business is supposed to launch in a few months.

At the top of the management team for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney sit Morgan Stanley's co-president James Gorman as chairman and Charles Johnston, now head of Citi's Global Wealth Management business in the U.S. and Canada, as president.

Who's who

After Johnston, it's a fair shout to the next-highest Citi folk to make Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's leadership squad. Paul Hatch, now Citi's wealth-management product head, will do something similar in the new set-up. Citi's high-net-worth segment head Craig Pfeiffer will take charge of marketing for the joint venture.

Ex-Citi employees will also fill out two of the joint venture's four regional directorships. Smith Barney's Ron Ferrelli will lead Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's retail-brokerage operations in the U.S. Northeast, and Smith Barney's Doug Kentfield will lead western U.S. operations. Morgan Stanley's Bill McMahon and Rick Skae will lead the joint venture's southern and central regions respectively.

But for the most part lead Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's leadership is all Morgan Stanley -- a fitting enough arrangement if you view the whole deal as Citi taking out a mortgage on Smith Barney to stave off collapse. Ray Harris, vice chairman of Morgan Stanley's wealth-management business will continue in that role. Jim Rosenthal, co-head of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's "integration office," will lead on-going integration efforts after the deal closes. Jeff Gelfand, finance director of Morgan's private-client business, serve as CFO of the joint venture. Cece Sutton, now head of retail banking at Morgan Stanley, will oversee banking products and services for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. These executives will report to Gorman.

Andy Saperstein, head of sales at Morgan Stanley's wealth division, has been tapped to be head of U.S. wealth management as a report to Johnston. That'll make him responsible for the joint venture's branches, recruiting and professional development.

Michael Armstrong, head of Morgan Stanley's ultra-high-net-worth business, will continue in that role as a report to Johnston while overseeing the integration of Smith Barney's family-office group with the newly combined business. -FWR

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