Morgan Stanley has reported income for the quarter ending February 29, 2008, of $1.6 billion, down from $2.3 billion a year earlier. Net revenues were $8.3 billion, about 15 percent below last year's first quarter.
The global wealth management group, led by James Gorman, had pre-tax income for the first quarter of $254 million, a 12 percent year-over-year increase. The quarter's pre-tax margin was 16 percent.
The group also reported net revenues of $1.6 billion, up 6 percent from a year ago. Total client assets stood at $722 billion, a 5 percent increase from last year's first quarter. Client assets in fee-based accounts were $185 billion, an 8 percent decrease from a year ago; they represent 26 percent of total assets.
The firm's 8,456 financial advisors had average annualized revenue of $761,000 and total client assets per representative of $85 million. In the previous quarter, ended November 30, 2007, Morgan Stanley's 8,429 FAs had average annualized revenue of $853,000 and client assets of $90 million.
