The most interesting new MDs at Morgan Stanley
Last week, Morgan Stanley promoted 184 new Managing Directors(MD), around 40% of whom were women. Unlike Goldman Sachs, it hasn't freely shared the names on the list, but many are already visible on social media.
If you're wondering who you need to know in the new MD class, we've identified some of the most interesting names below.
Technology MDs
Morgan Stanley's new technology MDs are busy with some interesting projects. For example, Pratik Shah is a product manager in New York who manages a team of PhD natural language processing (NLP) specialists and machine learning experts. He joined from Goldman in 2014. Also based in New York is David Wu, head of knowledge management for Morgan Stanley wealth management. Wu's role also involves NLP.
In Hong Kong, Morgan Stanley promoted Vikram Hemrajani, its head of international wealth management technology who joined from Citi in 2011. Back in New York, it also promoted Ruben Lusinyants, head of global alternative investments technology; Lusinyants has worked at the bank for nearly 18 years.
The people in continental Europe
As European financial centres gain traction, there were signs that Morgan Stanley is also rewarding European bankres based outside London.
This year's list of promotions included people like Francesco Ligato, the bank's Milan-based co-head of European residential mortgage sales. Ligato, who's been with Morgan Stanley since 2009, appears to have moved to Milan recently.
Morgan Stanley also promoted Paris-based Thomas Denizeau in M&A. Denizeau joined from Rothschild in 2016.
In Madrid, it promoted Cecilia Mendez, an investment banker who's been at Morgan Stanley for her entire 13 year career.
The Women
Women were the big story in Morgan Stanley's MD list, and many of its new female MDs are in investment banking. In addition to Mendez, they include Rita Touma, a London based MD in the consumer and retail group; Evelyn Phan, a London MD covering financial sponsors; and Sarah Gore and Samantha Owades, both New York MDs covering financial institutions group (FIG) clients.
There are a handful of female markets MDs on the list too, including Valerie Lau, a structurer in fixed income derivatives, based in Hong Kong.
Away from traditional front office roles, the bank promoted LaToya Wilson, who works on its multicultural client strategy team in New York, strengthening its connections with the multicultural business community. Wilson joined from the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Development Corporation five years ago.
It promoted Lauren Schenk, an equity researcher (who covers Bumble, among others). Schenk has spent nearly 11 years at Morgan Stanley, all of them in New York.
And, in a reflection of the ongoing importance of digital platforms (irrespective of Goldman's tribulations), Morgan Stanley promoted Melissa LaChance, its global head of user experience. LaChance moved to New York from San Francisco after joining the bank in 2016. She was with Charles Schwab, the investment platform, before that.
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