Morgan Stanley (MS.N) has promoted its head of institutional securities, Colm Kelleher, to president, prompting Greg Fleming, the head of wealth management, to leave the bank.
Gorman sent a firm-wide memo on Wednesday announcing Kelleher’s promotion and simultaneously noting Fleming’s decision to leave the firm to “pursue other opportunities.”
“The new year always brings change and new challenges and, for me, those challenges will be on the horizon beyond Morgan Stanley,” Fleming wrote in a separate memo sent to staff. A spokesman for the firm said Fleming will continue with Morgan Stanley for “a period of time to effect an orderly transition.”
In light of Fleming’s departure, Gorman announced Shelley O'Connor and Andy Saperstein would be taking over as co-heads of the wealth management business. They will report directly to Kelleher, who will take on Fleming’s role in overseeing the unit.
O’Connor, who has more than 30 years of experience, most recently served as head of field management, while Saperstein led Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities Group.
“We are fortunate to have such seasoned executives to lead our Wealth Management business. They and their senior management team will drive the business to new levels of performance in the years ahead,” Gorman said.
Jim Rosenthal and Jeff Brodsky will also take on new responsibilities. Rosenthal, in addition to his role as chief operating officer, will now lead the firm’s digital initiatives for financial advisors and wealth management clients, working closely with O’Connor and Saperstein. Brodsky, in his continued role as head of human resources, will now report directly to Gorman and have greater responsibility for attracting and developing talent.
Fleming, who joined Morgan Stanley in 2009, was widely seen as an heir apparent to Gorman. He helped grow Morgan Stanley's wealth management arm into an operation that generated nearly half of the firm's revenue as it shifted away from trading to more stable earnings. Fleming also steered the bank through its merger with Citigroup Inc's (C.N) Smith Barney brokerage.
Fleming was president and chief operating officer at Merrill Lynch from June 2007 to early 2009.
Here is the memo announcing Fleming's departure.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
