Bove Smites Morgan Stanley’s Strategy, But Bullish On Brokerage Unit
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Morgan Stanley’s recent move to increase trading risk and add traders a la Goldman Sachs is a just another bad strategy in a long line of lousy executions by management, says Dick Bove, vocal analyst of Rochdale Securities in a note released yesterday.
In fact, in his note, Bove argues that Morgan’s new strategy is akin to Lehman’s destined-to-doom distressed trading desk referencing Lawrence McDonald’s book, “A Colossal Failure of Common Sense.”
Citing a long line of the firm’s management’s problems with “timing,” by either moving “too much, or too little, too late,” Bove left Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the biggest retail brokerage division out of his objections. In fact, Bove said in an email to Registered Rep., “I actually believe that the retail operation is better managed than the rest of the firm.”
Andy Saperstein, managing director and head of wealth management was one of Rep.’sTen To Watch this year as he leads the integration of some 18,444 advisors and $1.4 trillion client assets. So far so good: Morgan Stanley Smith Barney remains attractive in the wirehouse space. Current reps are hopeful, and management has been aggressively recruiting (who isn’t?), with deals as high as 250 percent of trailing 12-months production with 140 percent in upfront cash and the rest earned via growth requirements.
