Co-President, Morgan Stanley
Search every verified Andrew Saperstein interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Andrew Saperstein, Co-President of Morgan Stanley and head of its wealth management division, discussed the firm's growth strategy and market conditions in two CNBC appearances. In September 2022, he described Morgan Stanley's wealth management business as "a category of one" and said acquisitions had made the firm "a powerful player." He stated that the company had grown by $650 billion organically and expected to grow by a trillion dollars every three years, excluding market performance. Saperstein said the firm seeks acquisitions with good strategy and culture fit, and is also interested in integrating innovative fintech and tech organizations into its platform. He described investor sentiment during market volatility as "very rational" and said the role of wealth management is to help clients focus on life goals rather than short-term market moves. In May 2023, Saperstein expressed a cautious outlook on the economy, citing deteriorating fundamentals. He noted that M2 money supply had been negative for six months, consumer spending was down, credit availability was tightening, and leading economic indicators were dropping, leading him to expect an economic slowdown in the second half of the year. He said the firm had moved cash into bonds and that the market's performance was being driven by a narrow group of mega-cap tech stocks. Saperstein said he did not expect the Federal Reserve to raise rates further, but warned that resolution of the debt ceiling could lead to additional tightening through Treasury issuance and quantitative tightening.
“We're not exactly on cash — all the cash has moved into bonds as we spoke about last September.”
“If you look at the facts on the ground right now, you have M2 negative for six months, consumer spending is down, availability of credit is tightening, and leading economic indicators are dropping — so we expect the economy to slow in the second half of the year.”
“The tape really isn't trading too well — it's really been driven by big tech; the mega-caps are pulling the weight of everybody else.”
“We're building a cautious take not because tech is leading the market, but rather because the fundamentals are deteriorating.”
“We had 15 years of free money, quantitative easing as well as a $5 trillion fiscal push — it's a big lag to burn that off, so we're wringing out those excesses.”
“I don't think the Fed will be raising any more, but keep in mind there's a lot of conjecture about the resolution of the debt ceiling.”
“The debt ceiling will result in a trifecta of tightening — it'll supercharge QT: Yellen's been burning down the Treasury General Account by not issuing treasuries, while Powell's still doing QT.”
“Once the debt ceiling is resolved, Yellen will have to rebuild her checking account — it's estimated she'll be issuing an extra $600 billion worth of treasuries in the back half of the year; that's a tightening, and combine that with QT and the banking drama and you get additional pressure.”
“What I would say is investor is very rational. What you don't want is people to buy and sell when they're nervous but think through the cycle — that's what markets are.”
“Wealth management and an adviser gets investors to think about the life goals, the lives — they set them up such that they can achieve the life goals and don't worry with markets like these.”
“So in a day like today where we are watching the TV for the CPI index to come out with baited breath, we don't want the clients doing that but enjoying their lives.”
“We have set ourselves up. We are a category of one — look like nobody else, grow like nobody else, we have a business like nobody else and through the acquisitions we are a powerful player.”
“We have grown by $650 billion organically. I said expect us to grow by a trillion dollars every three years, not counting the market.”
“We are good at acquisitions — we look for good strategy, great culture that would fit with ours and disciplined process and integration of the partners into the organization so that to the client it looks like one integrated, one client experience.”
“Which is really exciting is to be innovative on the platform and going out to talk to fintech organizations or tech organizations that are innovative and want to be really good to integrate the technologies into the platform.”
Richard Saperstein, Treasury Partners chief investment officer, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss conflicting signals in the market and his playbook in the market.
Morgan Stanley Co-President and Head of Wealth Management Andy Saperstein joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss investor sentiment, acquisitions and organic growth of net new assets, and cementing client relationships in a volatile market. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi » Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision » Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide. The…
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