Morgan Stanley

[shasta]

Has anyone here used them for management / advisor services?

They have been talking to me and the -1% rate is interesting.

They have sent me many good research materials.

What say you? Good times, bad times? No need for the times?

Im still a fan of the simple portfolio / bogleheads / Vanguard approach.

 

[brewer12345]

Run.

 

[obgyn65]

No.

I make my own financial decisions.

Has anyone here used them for management / advisor services?
.

 

[Spanky]

Im still a fan of the simple portfolio / bogleheads / Vanguard approach.

If you were, why would consider Stanley Morgan for advisory services?

 

[growing_older]

They are a big old wirehouse. If you are a bogleheads fan, you should have no need for them and can save their considerable fees. A 1% fee sounds small, but it is 25% or more of your SWR.

 

[shasta]

If you were, why would consider Stanley Morgan for advisory services?

Always open to everything?

I haven't heard a single thing about them in personal circles.

 

[Flsail]

I've been with them for about two years now and have been very pleased. I followed by advisor there when he left UBS.

It's probably like most things, it all depends on who your personal contact is.
If I were just going with mutual funds, I don't think I would need to, or stay with, the service. What they do offer that I appreciate is access to structured products that have allowed me to do quite well over the past few years, while providing significant downside protection. I don't know if I would have had access to, or understanding of these products without their service.

 

[ERD50]

... What they do offer that I appreciate is access to structured products that have allowed me to do quite well over the past few years, while providing significant downside protection. ...

This is quite interesting. Can you tell us more about these products, so that we could evaluate them to see if we would like to pay for access to them?

I am able to purchase downside protection w/o an advisor, but there is always a price to pay.

(edit/add) - Of course, in the past two years, there hasn't been much need for downside protection for equities.

-ERD50

 

[jerome len]

Has anyone here used them for management / advisor services?

They have been talking to me and the -1% rate is interesting.

They have sent me many good research materials.

What say you? Good times, bad times? No need for the times?

Im still a fan of the simple portfolio / bogleheads / Vanguard approach.

I still like Vanguard index funds and etf's manageing them myself. Someday I may be too old to do it on my own. Then, I'll hire Vanguard, they start at 70 basis points and go down to 20 basis points over 1 million. 100 basis points plus all the fees is way too much for me. On the other hand I know that someday I'll need help......Vanguard is the cheapest and my choice.

 

[Flsail]

This is quite interesting. Can you tell us more about these products, so that we could evaluate them to see if we would like to pay for access to them?


-ERD50

The last one I purchased a few weeks ago is 4 years in duration and is tied to the S & P index. The two benchmarks are the value of the index on the day of purchase and in 4 years from that point. Whatever happens in between is irrelevant. On the date of maturity, for every dollar that the index is higher, I receive my initial investment as well as a profit of 1.1 dollars. If the market is lower by no more than 30%, I receive my initial investment as well as 1.1% positive return to the up side. If the market is lower by more than 30%, I receive the value of the market.
Examples:

S & P at buy S & P at sell. Value of note Profit/loss
1500 2000 $2050 +$550
1500 1125 $1912.50 +$412.50
1500 1000 $1000 -$500

And you are correct, their is a cost. In this product you loose the associated dividend income of the index.
There also is a secondary market for these types of products as well, so you can sell them prior to maturity if needed, but that would not be the intent when going in.
I hope I have been able to explain this.

 

[ERD50]

I hope I have been able to explain this.

Yes, thank you.

Now, for a better comparison, include that loss of dividends in that table. Even the current 2.08% (which is lower than past 4 years, I think), adds up to roughly $120 that should be subtracted from that 'Profit/Loss'.

There are probably cheaper ways to go about this (LEAP puts, maybe just a lower AA?). The groups providing the hedge have to make a profit, and if it costs 1% annually to access this, that's another 4% over 4 years, shaving a total of $180 from that 'Profit/Loss' column.

-ERD50

 

[brett]

Strongly agree with the previous poster.

The company is important, but the individual is critical.

We decided to consolidate prior to retirement and did a six month or so search. Spoke to several people and narrowed it down to one advisor/firm that I was happy with and that DW was comfortable with.

It has worked out very well for us.

 

[Richard4444]

I have accounts with both Vanguard and Morgan Stanley. With MS, I have 2 Preferred Stocks and a few GNMAs. I wouldn't have known anything at all about GNMAs or Preferreds otherwise; the FA explained these products to me a bunch of years ago; I then researched them on my own, and bought some of what he recommended since it met my needs then. Yes - I could have learned from him and bought the products cheaper at Vanguard, but that's not fair play. And I know that individual GNMAs and Preferreds are not popular around here, but I decided I was comfortable with them for a portion of my AA. YMMV (and likely does)

 

[45th Birthday]

I am currently with Morgan Stanley as a result of a relationship I have had for years with a college buddy. He was at Smith Barney before they merged with Morgan Stanley.

I trust this guy but mostly do my own thing. I do not pay the advisory fee (too high), but a per-transaction commission that I negotiated. While it is lower that their usual, it is still higher than Fido and Vanguard. But, I would never trust anyone from those companies for advice.

My advisor gives breaks on other fees and charges, and overall I think it is a good value. I do have a lot of other money at both Vanguard and Fido.

When they converted Smith Barney customers to the Morgan Stanlely systems, they downgraded a lot of the features I used to have with Smith Barney. Very, very bad. Smith Barney wasn't great, but the Morgan Stanley system is really awful. I have made adjustments and live with it, but I came very close to bolting at first.

I would not do what you are considering. I have a good friend who is with a different Morgan Stanley person in some kind of managed account and they buy and sell frequently. He doesn't pay commissions; just the percentage of assets, but he has tons of transactions to report on his tax return as a result of extremely high transaction volume.

 

[Kimo]

I am retired and the only thing that kept me from retiring earlier was Morgan Stanley.......I would do as others said..Run as fast as you can!

 

[Onward]

I had an IRA custodied at Morgan Stanley. The broker assigned to me was unpleasant and grew impatient any time time I mentioned indexing or low fees. We fought about it. He tried to sell me all kinds of crap instead.

Don't know if MS's financial advisers would be different.

 

[misanman]

I have about 10% of my assets at Morgan Stanley (due to long term relationship with former Smith Barney advisor). They manage it completely and it's done very well. I don't like the fees, but I've considered it part of my diversification. At some point I will likely move it over to Fidelity.

 

[bo_knows]

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who is a Morgan Stanley adviser. I basically asked if he guaranteed that he could beat the market enough to cover his fees. He said no. I asked then "Why wouldn't I just by index funds myself then?" He basically told me that his entire line of work was a convenience industry for folks who can't/won't or are afraid to do it themselves and that he can't readily say he'd beat the market enough to recoup fees.

 

[boatfishandnature]

I have used them as my Private Banker and broker for 6 years now and find that they provide great services and research. I do listen to their advice. The most useful type of advice is when I know more or less what I am looking for and they can help me find the exact stock or bond.

 

[Jack_Pine]

Most here seem to manage their funds themselves. I respect that. i think after I retire I will take on that task. I have neither the time or inclination to do it right now.

I have been with MS/SB for 30 some years and they have done well by me. I really like our guy. It;s also a nice security blanket for DW if anything would happen to me.

 

[Ronstar]

Morgan Stanley gets wind of DW's megacorp prospective retirees and targets them, so we were approached and we put some $ with them at the 1% rate. They're doing ok, beating one of my self managed accounts by 3%, but lagging another by 5%. I like the diversification - I didn't want to put all of my eggs in one basket, (and I was pressured by DW to put some $ with them because she's impressed by our advisor).

If you're a good fan of Vanguard and impressed by the MS advisor, then diversify into both and compare results. Then re-allocate funds into the funds that give you the best results

 

[JakeBrake]

As a Morgan Stanley (MS) shareholder, I think everyone should use Morgan Stanley.

 

[enjoyinglife102]

Having worked in the industry, they are completely focused on sales and "financial advisors" are assessed on one metric - what they produce for the firm. No manager ever evaluated what an advisor did for a client but they were definitely on top of their production numbers with lots of pressure to generate big dollars. The industry is one big scam.