About Andrew Saperstein
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.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Andrew Saperstein's recent appearances.
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Transcript (6 segments)
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Interviewer0:11
I will tell him, Tyler says don't be nervous.
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Andrew Saperstein0:15
That's good. Don't think of the elephant.
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Interviewer0:19
You are — it is a great day to have you because you are in charge of Morgan Stanley's wealth management that spans investor types. You have the self-directed market, the old Smith Barney, wealth management. Given today's sell-off and the volatility in the market, what is investor sentiment like right now?
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Andrew Saperstein0:45
What I would say is the investor is very rational, right? What you don't want is people to buy and sell when they're nervous, but think through the cycle. They can achieve their life goals and don't worry with markets like these. So on a day like today where we are watching the TV for the CPI index to come out with bated breath, we don't want the clients doing that, but enjoying their lives and seeing that nobody likes to see red. There's a lot of engagement and phone calls to advisers, but rational and reason.
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Interviewer1:39
You are getting inbound. While the main focus is this morning at the Barclays conference, you talked about net new assets at the firm and set a target that may be responsible for helping provide a floor to... You have had a lot of very successful acquisitions within wealth management.
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Andrew Saperstein2:16
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. Self-directed and the workplace channel and the world-class advisers that we have. 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 look for good strategy, great culture that would fit with ours, and disciplined about process and integration of the partners into the organization so that to the client it looks like one integrated, one client experience, and basically what we have done. If others fit that mold, we would do them. I talked about this morning 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...
