(Bloomberg) — Morgan Stanley has picked 199 employees as its new managing director in its largest batch of promotions for the role in a decade.
A third of the new managing directors are women, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be named. This means that 23% of the bank’s managing directors are now women, a record for the New York-based company.
For decades the leadership of the bank has been mostly male and white, as has been the case on Wall Street. In the US, 20% of new MDs are Asian, 10% are black, and 6% are Hispanic, the person said. A Morgan Stanley spokesperson declined to comment.
The total number has increased from 171 last year to 130 in 2020. The Americas region accounted for 64% of promotions, with 23% in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and 14% in Asia.
The battle to hire and retain employees is heating up in Wall Street. While reporting earnings Friday, JPMorgan Chase & Co acknowledged that wages are under pressure, saying it would pay for talent. Morgan Stanley is due to present fourth-quarter results on Wednesday.
Read more about JPMorgan’s comments on Wall Street Pay
According to a person with knowledge of the promotion, the new class of managing directors is the most ethnically diverse in Morgan Stanley history.
“In some instances we’re going to do well, and we’re going to show progress year after year, and then there are going to be times when you can be flat, or you can even take a step back,” Susan Reed , the firm’s head of diversity and inclusion said about a year ago. “And I think that’s part of the journey.”
The managing directors’ details were reported on Friday by Financial News.
– With the assistance of Sonali Basak.
