Morgan Stanley Wins Four 2023 Money Management Institute (MMI)/Barron’s Industry Awards

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced today that it has won four Industry Awards from the Money Management Institute (MMI) and Barron’s, the most of any firm. The awards include a Digital Innovation award for Morgan Stanley’s Portfolio Risk Platform, a Disruption award for Morgan Stanley’s UMA Fractional Share Program, a Sustainable & ESG Investing Award for Morgan Stanley IQ ®, and a Doing Good award for Morgan Stanley’s Strategy Challenge.

“Being recognized by MMI/Barron’s in four categories is truly an honor,” said Andy Saperstein, Co-President of Morgan Stanley and Head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “These awards reflect our ability to leverage technology to create innovative solutions in investment advisory for the benefit of our clients and Financial Advisors. We are equally proud to receive the Doing Good award for our work in strengthening the communities we serve as giving back has long been a core value of Morgan Stanley.”

The Digital Innovation (Wealth Manager Firms) category honors a new technological innovation (or specific enhancement to an existing platform or tool) by a wealth management firm that enhances the investor or advisor experience with advisory solutions. Morgan Stanley’s Portfolio Risk Platform (PRP) delivers the power of BlackRock’s Aladdin Wealth ^TM technology to Morgan Stanley Wealth Management (MSWM). Financial Advisors use Portfolio Risk Platform to access detailed analytics and reporting, including stress scenarios and the ability to model potential changes to clients’ portfolios. The platform is visually organized with distinct insights dashboards and streamlined workflows, allowing Financial Advisors to analyze portfolio risk across client accounts with tremendous scale.

The Disruption category honors a groundbreaking new product, technology, or process that will fundamentally alter the future delivery of advisory solutions. Morgan Stanley has received this award for the Fractional Share Program, the purpose of which is to facilitate a meaningfully lower account minimum size for separately managed accounts (SMAs) at Morgan Stanley. Fractional Shares create efficiencies for Financial Advisors by increasing product availability, ultimately benefiting clients. The minimum investment amount for equity SMAs was lowered by managing and trading individual stock positions that will have fractional share allocations and fractional share rounding, enabling the client to purchase shares with less money. Clients within the program can buy and sell fractional share positions of equity securities, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other securities, and gain access to institutional-caliber thought leadership, tax-smart vehicles at lower costs, closer tracking to model portfolios and lower cash positions.

The Sustainable & ESG Investing category honors programs that support awareness and adoption of Sustainable and ESG Investing. Morgan Stanley received the award for Morgan Stanley Impact Quotient®. Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Investing with Impact has recently launched detailed impact reporting capabilities for their Investing with Impact Portfolio suite, which includes both our Impact and Diversity Portfolios. These Portfolios pursue competitive risk-adjusted returns alongside positive societal outcomes by leveraging Morgan Stanley’s best thinking on asset allocation, manager selection and portfolio construction. The reports apply insights harvested from their patented and award-winning impact reporting application—Morgan Stanley Impact Quotient® (Morgan Stanley IQ®)—providing investors with transparency around portfolio impact.

The Doing Good category honors programs that support a deserving cause or give back to the communities we serve. Morgan Stanley received the award for the Strategy Challenge, the Firm’s flagship pro bono program that leverages Morgan Stanley’s strongest asset—our people—to help nonprofits solve strategic challenges. The program matches rising Morgan Stanley talent with nonprofit organizations in New York and London to help them address critical strategic challenges that impact their ability to deliver on their missions. Cross-divisional teams of select associates and vice presidents volunteer their expertise during an eight-to-ten-week engagement to provide nonprofits with tailored analysis, actionable plans, and tools for future decision-making.

Since its inception, the annual MMI/Barron’s Industry Awards recognizes innovation and leadership in the investment advisory solutions industry and celebrates outstanding achievement by honoring firms that have raised the bar by delivering superior solutions for Financial Advisors and investors.

For more information about Morgan Stanley’s MMI/Barron’s Industry Award honors as well as a full list of this year’s honorees, please visit www.MMInst.org.

About the MMI/Barron’s Industry Awards Program

Nominations were reviewed and evaluated between June 30, 2023 and July 28, 2023 by a specially appointed MMI Industry Awards Steering Council and the MMI Membership Experience Committee (MEC). The council and committee members represent all segments of the MMI membership—asset managers, wealth managers and solutions providers. The Steering Council and MEC reviewed the nominations based on:

• Level of innovation and forward-thinking
• Potential to effect noticeable change in the investment advisory industry
• Advancement of existing investment advisory practices and protocols
• Potential to deliver improved outcomes for Financial Advisors and investors

After carefully reviewing the nominations submitted, the Steering Council and MEC determined a slate of finalists in each award category. The primary contacts at each of MMI’s 208 members firms were eligible to vote to determine the winners in each category.

MMI/Barron’s does not receive compensation from the participating firms in exchange for the award and Morgan Stanley did not pay a fee to MMI/Barron’s in exchange for its receipt of the award. Morgan Stanley is a member of MMI and pays a fee to MMI as part of its membership dues. Morgan Stanley’s receipt of this award is not indicative of any future performance.

About the Money Management Institute (MMI):

Established in 1997, the Money Management Institute (MMI) is the industry association representing financial services firms that provide financial advice and investment advisory solutions to investors. Through conferences, educational resources, and thought leadership, MMI facilitates peer-to-peer connections, fosters industry knowledge and professionalism, and supports the development of the next generation of industry leadership. MMI member firms are dedicated to helping individual and institutional investors, at every level of assets, plan for and fulfill their financial goals. For more information, visit www.MMInst.org.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 42 countries, the Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.