Morgan Stanley Taps Fidelity Star for Global Wealth Management President

Nick Parmee

18 December 2007

Morgan Stanley has hired Ellyn McColgan as president and chief operating officer of its global wealth management group. Ms McColgan will join in April 2008, reporting to promoted co-president James Gorman, whom she succeeds in the GWMG leadership role; she will also be a member of Morgan Stanley’s management committee. Ms McColgan joins Morgan Stanley after a 17-year career at Fidelity Investments, where she served most recently as president of distribution and operations. In this position, she was responsible for the firm’s retail and institutional distribution channels as well as core processing operations in the US and India, representing 21,000 employees and more than $1.5 trillion in client assets under administration. John Mack, chairman and chief executive, said: “Ellyn McColgan is the ideal executive to carry forward the tremendous progress that James Gorman and his team have made in transforming our global wealth management business into an industry leader. She will bring to our management committee a breadth and depth of experience that is unmatched in our industry. As the leader over a number of years of one of the largest wealth management businesses in the US, Ellyn has a proven ability to grow revenues and profits, deliver a superior operating platform to financial advisors and create a client experience that is second to none. Her leadership will enable us to build on the momentum we have achieved over the past two years in this important business for Morgan Stanley.” Mr Gorman said: “Ellyn brings great insight, expertise and a fresh perspective to our business. We will draw upon her vast experience with wealth management products, retirement services and best-in-class operations and technology platforms to advance GWMG’s leadership position.” GWMG has delivered six consecutive quarters of improved performance. In the third quarter of 2007, this business achieved its highest revenue since the second quarter of 2000 and a margin of 17 per cent, compared with a margin of 1 per cent in 2005. It also delivered record annualised revenue per financial advisor of $817,000 in the third quarter, versus $502,000 in 2005. Client inflows of nearly $15 billion reached all-time highs during the third quarter, and the amount of client assets in $1 million-plus households is up by $107 billion, or 28 per cent, from the first quarter of 2006.