Winners rationale

Considering that Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia’s clientele in the region includes business owners and entrepreneurs who count themselves among the upper echelons of the UHNW spectrum, providing institutional-level capabilities via the private banking platform is expected. And it is here where Morgan Stanley PWM Asia delivers.
The bank’s private wealth clients benefit from the same institutional platform, content, access and services that Morgan Stanley offers its most heavyweight global institutional clients.

Responsibility for forging collaboration between the private and investment banks falls with Morgan Stanley’s Strategic Advisory Solutions (SAS) team, exemplifying the group’s dedication to the “one bank” concept. The holistic approach seeks to provide wealth management clients with comprehensive access to the US lender’s best-in-class capital market offerings and investment banking capabilities, ranging from initial public offerings, and single-share financing, to mergers & acquisitions.

Since the Wall Street bank is a research powerhouse, this is naturally an area where its Asian private bank clients enjoy the fruits of Morgan Stanley’s integrated platform. The lender’s research function houses world-renowned analysts, strategists and economists who together deliver timely, in-depth and insightful investment views and recommendations to Morgan Stanley PWM Asia clients.

Globally, the team covers about 3,600 stocks, or nearly 90% of the MSCI World index. On a regional basis, Morgan Stanley covers 1,400 individual equities, or around 90% of the market capitalisation of the MSCI Asia benchmark. This research forms a robust intellectual base on which the private bank can develop discretionary mandates and make informed recommendations to clients through its advisory platform.

These interconnections are brought to life through the SAS team’s efforts to engage UHNWI clients in a strategic dialogue regarding their corporate and capital requirements. That dialogue works both ways: investment banking clients are regularly referred to the wealth management business, and vice versa.

The tight-knit nature of Morgan Stanley’s different platforms proved advantageous during the market volatility seen in the region in 2021. Morgan Stanley PWM was one of the first private banks in the region to sound the alarm on liquidity issues at highly leveraged Chinese developers, a view which in part was guided by the firm’s debt and equity capital market insight and expertise. Such visibility and first-hand sector knowledge would not be possible at most private banks in Asia-Pacific.

According to figures shared with Asian Private Banker during the awards judging process, revenues derived from Morgan Stanley’s integrated platform grew at a rate not seen elsewhere in the region, while client assets derived via this channel rose at an impressive pace.

That is why Morgan Stanley PWM has been deemed the winner of Asian Private Banker’s Best Private Bank – Integrated Platform for 2021.