Morgan Stanley Promotes Co-President to Replace Gorman as CEO

Morgan Stanley announced Wednesday that Co-President Ted Pick will replace James Gorman as CEO of the global financial services firm, which also runs retirement plan consultancy Graystone Consulting.

Gorman took the CEO role in 2010, replacing John Mack. He had announced his departure at the firm’s May annual shareholder conference, noting three potential successors without naming them.

Pick, who will take over in January 2024 and also join Morgan Stanley’s board of directors, has been co-president for two years, serving as head of the institutional securities group overseeing investment banking, equities, fixed income, capital markets and research.

With the change, Morgan Stanley also announced that Andy Saperstein will take a role as co-president and head of wealth and investment management. He is currently overseeing all wealth management channels, including Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors, E*Trade and Morgan Stanley at Work.

In addition, Dan Simkowitz will be a co-president and head of institutional securities, taking over Pick’s prior role. Simkowitz is currently head of investment management and co-head of firm strategy and execution.

“The Board has unanimously determined that Ted Pick is the right person to lead Morgan Stanley and build on the success the firm has achieved under James Gorman’s exceptional leadership,” Tom Glocer, the board’s independent lead director, said in a statement. “Ted is a strategic leader with a strong track record of building and growing our client franchise, developing and retaining talent, allocating capital with sound risk management, and carrying forward our culture and values.”

Prior to his current role, Pick served as global head of sales and trading, including leading a turnaround of Morgan Stanley’s fixed-income division, according to the firm. Morgan Stanley also noted that Pick actively raised capital during the financial crisis.

“For several years I have worked with the Board to ensure an orderly succession, and I feel strongly that now is the time to step aside,” Gorman said in a statement. “I have worked side by side with Ted since the financial crisis and have experienced first-hand his values, intellect, passion and commitment to our people and our clients. He is battle-tested, understands complex risk, and works very effectively not just in the U.S., but around the globe.”

Gorman, 64, oversaw a push by the New York-based investment bank into wealth management and investment advice, with the investment management division staffed with 1,300 financial professionals overseeing $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of March 31.

Morgan Stanley’s Graystone Consulting, which provides retirement plan advisement to plan sponsors, is led by Jeremiah France, who was hired in 2020 from a position in wealth management with Mercer.