Morgan Stanley Aims Robo Service at Next-Generation Investors

Morgan Stanley is rolling out the welcome mat for the investing masses, part of a push to get a foothold with a new generation of wealth-management clients, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal. Starting this fall, investors with as little as $5,000 can use the New York bank’s robo-advisory service, known as Morgan Stanley Access Investing. Since ramping up in wealth management several years ago with the acquisition of Citigroup Inc.’s Smith Barney brokerage, Morgan Stanley has pushed its brokers to meet the investing needs of individuals with millions of dollars. Now, the bank is in a digital transformation that will let the U.S.’s biggest brokerage (by number of financial advisers) embrace some of the country’s smallest investors. Morgan Stanley told brokers it would begin testing its robo service with a small group of employees in June. Similar to other robos-advisors, Morgan Stanley’s automated-investing service relies on an algorithm to gauge an investor’s appetite for risk and then recommends an appropriate portfolio of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. The service, which will cost 0.45% of the invested assets annually, will also give investors the option to further customize their portfolios around certain themes, such as focusing on sustainable investments or other socially responsible investment themes.