February 20, 2020
Louis Diamond Quoted
By Bruce Kelly
With its purchase of ETrade Financial, Morgan Stanley is expanding its online and so-called self-directed investment platform for the less than ultra rich.
For years, the large wirehouses like Morgan Stanley have been pushing brokers to stop working with less profitable clients, or those with assets less than $250,000 to $500,000. But through platforms like ETrade or Merrill Edge, those clients still have a home at a full-service brokerage, one recruiter noted.
“The industry has realized it’s profitable to service these smaller relationships,” said Louis Diamond, vice president and senior consultant at Diamond Consultants, an industry recruiter. “It’s advantageous for a bank or wirehouse to work with these clients with a tech platform like ETrade, and as the account grows, you have a massive sales force of highly trained advisers to work eventually with those clients.”
