Morgan Stanley Names 199 New Managing Directors, Most Since 2012

(Bloomberg) — Morgan Stanley picked 199 employees as new managing directors in its biggest batch of promotions to the role in a decade. 

A third of the new managing directors are women, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be named. That means 23% of the bank’s managing directors are now female, a record for the New York-based company. 

The bank’s leadership has been mostly male and White for decades, as has been the case across Wall Street. In the U.S., 20% of the new managing directors are Asian, 10% are Black, and 6% are Hispanic, the person said. A Morgan Stanley spokesperson declined to comment.

The total number is up from 171 last year, and 130 in 2020. The Americas region counted for 64% of the promotions, with 23% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 14% in Asia.

The battle for hiring and retaining employees is heating up across Wall Street. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acknowledged Friday while reporting earnings that there’s pressure on wages, saying it will pay up for talent. Morgan Stanley is slated to report fourth-quarter results Wednesday.

Read more about JPMorgan’s comments on Wall Street pay

The new class of managing directors is the most ethnically diverse in Morgan Stanley’s history, according to the person with knowledge of the promotions. 

“In some instances we’re going to do well, and we’re going to show progress year over year, and then there are going to be times when you might be flat, or you might even take a step back,” Susan Reid, the firm’s head of diversity and inclusion, said about a year ago. “And I think that’s part of the journey.”

Details on the managing directors were reported earlier Friday by Financial News.

–With assistance from Sonali Basak.