Morgan Stanley's 2024 shareholder letter, Ted Pick's first as chief executive

About this letter

Ted Pick wrote this as his first annual letter to shareholders as chief executive of Morgan Stanley, a firm he joined in 1990 through the Investment Banking analyst program and the only place he has worked. Headed as the 2024 shareholder letter and dated 5 April 2024, it reviews the firm's 2023.

Pick had succeeded James Gorman, whom he thanks for 14 years as chief executive, and the letter's central message is continuity. It reports 2023 net revenues of $54.1 billion and net income of $9.1 billion in a year marked by geopolitical tension, uncertain rates and regional bank failures, then reviews Wealth Management, Investment Management and Institutional Securities. It closes with the firm's core values, its people and culture, and the two co-presidents who lead the businesses alongside him.

What to notice

1. 1

   Pick restates four firmwide goals: $10 trillion in client assets, a 30% Wealth Management pre-tax margin, a 70% efficiency ratio and 20% returns on tangible common equity through business cycles.

“While there has been a change in leadership, there is no change in strategy.”