• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032

3

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032

3

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
TechMorgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Looks to Tech Industry to Improve Wealth Management

By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 17, 2017, 2:53 PM ET
Views Of Morgan Stanley Headquarters Ahead Of Earnings Figures
Morgan Stanley digital signage is displayed on the exterior of the company's headquarters in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, July 12, 2016. Morgan Stanley is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 20. Photographer: Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Eric Thayer—Bloomberg via Getty Images

Morgan Stanley inked deals with 10 technology outfits last year to improve the products and services it offers wealth-management customers, the bank said on Tuesday.

Among the new partners are Addepar, which offers investment-tracking software, and Zelle, a digital payments network that aims to compete against the popular mobile application Venmo.

Although the tools will not necessarily generate fees, they will help financial advisers do their jobs better, Morgan Stanley Chief Executive James Gorman said. They may also attract and retain customers who prefer digital options, he added.

“We’ve got to be careful that we are not penny wise and pound foolish,” he said.

Big banks, investment firms, and brokerages have been investing heavily in financial technology lately to avoid losing customers to Silicon Valley.

In the wealth-management business, the most common threat has been so-called “roboadvisors,” like Wealthfront and Betterment, which manage clients’ money using algorithms. They tend to charge less than human advisers and cater to customers with relatively little money to invest.

Morgan Stanley’s wealth business is sticking to a model that favors wealthier customers, Gorman said. However, he left the door open to serving those who want purely digital advice, and said he expects all customers to want cutting-edge digital options going forward.

“We will be building a lot of digital technology to support the financial advisors and the branch operations,” he said.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily tech newsletter.

In December, Morgan Stanley said 20 of its top adviser teams would use Addepar’s software to track wealthy clients’ assets across all of their accounts—even those outside Morgan Stanley—to manage their assets better.

Zelle, the peer-to-peer payments app, was developed by a group of big banks including J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC). It plans to launch later this year.

In an earnings-related document, Morgan Stanley listed several other technology firms including cloud-based messaging service Twilio, data-analytics provider Cloudera, and tax-software maker LifeYield, as partners it is using to modernize branches, communicate with customers and target clients who prefer digital options.

Morgan Stanley has also made a number of key hires to build out its digital department, including Naureen Hassan, who joined as chief digital officer for the wealth business from Charles Schwab (SCHW) last year.

The focus on technology is part of a broader strategy to increase profit margins in Morgan Stanley’s wealth business to a range of 23% to 25% by next year, from a current 22%.

As Gorman tells it, the technology can encourage customers to do more business with Morgan Stanley and allow advisers to use their time in more productive ways. Gorman feels “strongly” that Morgan Stanley will hit the 2017 target, he said.

Morgan Stanley has also been trying to increase lending to wealthy customers to bolster its bottom line.

Since taking full control of the Smith Barney brokerage from Citigroup (C) in 2012, Morgan Stanley acquired a lush amount of deposits. It is working to put them to use through mortgages, lending against customers’ investment portfolios and tailored loans that use fine art and other luxury items as collateral.

Over the course of 2016, Morgan Stanley grew loans to wealth customers by 24%, to $55.3 billion.

Click here for more articles from Time Inc.’s “Looking Forward” series.

About the Author
By Reuters
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Current price of Ethereum for June 10, 2026
Personal FinanceEthereum
Current price of Ethereum for June 10, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 10, 2026
2 hours ago
goldman
Investingprivate equity
‘The circulatory system isn’t working.’ Goldman on what’s really wrong with private markets
By Nick LichtenbergJune 10, 2026
3 hours ago
Exclusive: Mastercard launches protocol to let AI agents pay each other, send micropayments
BankingMastercard
Exclusive: Mastercard launches protocol to let AI agents pay each other, send micropayments
By Ben WeissJune 10, 2026
3 hours ago
Geoffrey von Maltzahn and Kimberly Powell on stage at Fortune Brainstorm Tech
AITerm Sheet
AI drug discovery leaders warn U.S. health funding cuts risk falling behind global rivals
By Lily Mae LazarusJune 10, 2026
5 hours ago
Kevin O'Leary wears a silver and black suit with a chain of basketball cards around his neck.
AIData centers
From the Trump administration to Kevin O’Leary, there’s a new narrative that China is to blame for plummeting data center popularity
By Sasha RogelbergJune 10, 2026
6 hours ago
JB Straubel, co-founder of Tesla and founder and CEO of Redwood Materials, speaking at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo: Michael Faas/Fortune)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Why China is outpacing the U.S. power grid
By Andrew NuscaJune 10, 2026
7 hours ago

Most Popular

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
Asia
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
By Kate O'Keeffe and BloombergJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
Economy
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
By Nick LichtenbergJune 9, 2026
22 hours ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 9, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 9, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, June 9, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Wall Street dumped nearly $1 trillion in tech stocks by midday—then clawed it back and bought peanut butter and paint
Investing
Wall Street dumped nearly $1 trillion in tech stocks by midday—then clawed it back and bought peanut butter and paint
By Eva RoytburgJune 9, 2026
17 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.