James P. Gorman, Morgan Stanley's chairman and CEO, said that the firm is on the acquisition trail during a first quarter 2023 earnings call with analysts Wednesday.
"There is no doubt that we can and over the years will do more acquisitions," Mr. Gorman said, according to a transcript of the meeting.
He stressed to analysts on the call that the firm's future acquisitions "will be in the wealth and asset management space and we constantly keep a list of who is attractive and who would be a good fit, but obviously, I couldn't say if there was something imminent. But it's something we focus on."
Morgan Stanley acquired money manager Eaton Vance in March 2021 and online brokerage E-Trade Financial in October 2020.
Sharon Yeshaya, Morgan Stanley's CFO, noted to analysts on the call that "we continue to build a franchise where we're able to have diversified products that are there to capture our client assets."
Mr. Gorman and Ms. Yeshaya did not identify investment firms that might be on the company's acquisition list and neither was available to comment to Pensions & Investments.
As for Morgan Stanley's first quarter 2023 results, assets under management were up 4.4% to $1.36 trillion compared with the prior quarter and down 5.9% in a year-to-year comparison, the firm's earning report showed.
The firm's revenue in the quarter ended of March 31 totaled $1.3 billion, down 11.8% compared to the prior quarter and down 5.9% compared to the prior year.
