Morgan Stanley’s global wealth management group, which is undergoing substantial restructuring under its recently appointed head James Gorma...

Morgan Stanley’s global wealth management group, which is undergoing substantial restructuring under its recently appointed head James Gorman, reported a pre-tax profit of $157 million in the second quarter, up 33 per cent year-on-year. Assets under fee-based management within the GWM Group rose 15 per cent year-on-year to $190 million. Net revenues came in at $1.4 billion, up 14 per cent from a year ago, which Morgan Stanley said reflected higher revenues from transactional and fee-based products, as well as higher net interest revenue. The bank, which has been streamlining its staff in the US as part of its restructuring efforts, said the number of global representatives at the end of the quarter totaled 8,179, a reduction of around 1,500 in the last year. Average annualized revenue and total client assets per global representative increased to $653,000 and $78 million, respectively, both records, said the Wall Street financial services firm. The firm’s asset management division saw pre-tax profit rise 28 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter to $224 million. Assets under management or supervision at May 31, 2006 were $440 billion, up $24 billion, or 6 per cent, from a year ago.