New York-based multinational investment bank and financial services company Morgan Stanley plans to deepen its partnership with Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) in asset and wealth management, CEO Ted Pick revealed in a recent interview with Nikkei.
“We are in this for the very long term,” Pick stated, emphasizing his vision for a broader and stronger relationship between the two companies over time.
MUFG’s ongoing integration of technology into wealth management, including its full acquisition of au Kabucom Securities by January 2025, underscores the alliance’s forward-thinking approach. Kabucom plans to adopt Morgan Stanley’s institutional stock-trading execution platform in March, highlighting the role of technology in advancing mutual goals. The partnership may also expand into artificial intelligence-based services and research, leveraging Morgan Stanley’s early collaboration with OpenAI.
This alliance dates back to 2008, when MUFG invested $9 billion in Morgan Stanley during the global financial crisis. Since 2013, Morgan Stanley has contributed over ¥2 trillion ($13 billion) to MUFG’s net profits, solidifying the partnership’s importance to both institutions.
Morgan Stanley, under Pick’s leadership, continues to target ambitious growth. The company aims to increase client assets across its wealth and investment management divisions from $7.5 trillion to $10 trillion. Wealth management alone accounted for 47% of net revenue in the July-September quarter, alongside institutional securities at 44%.
Despite competition from Wall Street peers like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley remains committed to diversifying its revenue streams and integrating wealth and investment services. This “integrated firm” approach, as Pick describes, positions Morgan Stanley to cater to high-net-worth clients with needs spanning asset management, M&A, and investment banking.
As global economic growth accelerates, the Morgan Stanley-MUFG alliance stands poised to capture new opportunities and redefine cross-border financial collaboration.
