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Morgan Stanley's Shareworks Enters Alliance With Mitsubishi

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In an effort to offer market-leading stock plan administrative services to executives and employees of companies in Japan, Morgan Stanley’s (MS - Free Report) Shareworks entered an alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, the trust banking arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG - Free Report) .

Shareworks, earlier known as Solium Capital, was acquired by Morgan Stanley in 2019. It is a stock plan administration platform that provides software and administration services. It administers stock plans for employees and executives at Canada companies.

Currently, Shareworks is part of the Morgan Stanley at Work suite of financial solutions that combines planning and risk management software, intellectual capital and financial education to enable employees in building a holistic plan to achieve their financial goals.

Jed Finn, the head of corporate & institutional solutions and the COO of Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley, stated, “Our strategic alliance with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation is a significant opportunity for Shareworks as the number of Japanese companies adding equity plans is growing about 35% annually. The alliance will also position us to provide financial wellness, retirement and wealth management services to the U.S. participants of Japanese companies.”

Notably, the alliance will aid in accelerating the delivery of Morgan Stanley’s comprehensive end-to-end suite of workplace financial solutions. It will help in providing compensation plan services that maintain and strengthen the competitiveness of Japan-based companies by meeting the needs of their employees.

Our Take

Of late, Morgan Stanley has been undertaking initiatives to restructure operations, with a goal of increasing reliable revenue sources. Thus, the company has been focusing more on segments that are less dependent on the capital markets like Wealth Management and Investment Management.

In fact, its all-stock deal to acquire Arlington, VA-based E*TRADE Financial for $13 billion is expected to position it as a leader in the Wealth Management industry across all channels and wealth segments.

Moreover, in May 2020, Morgan Stanley announced its plan to launch a full-service wealth management unit in Canada with an aim to bolster the existing services it provides to the country. The unit will likely be part of Shareworks.

Over the past six months, shares of Morgan Stanley have gained 38.5% compared with the industry’s rally of 19.3%.






Currently, the company sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Another stock from the same space worth a look is Interactive Brokers (IBKR - Free Report) . It has witnessed a northward earnings estimate revision of 29.7% for the current year over the past 60 days. Its share price has increased 16.1% over the past three months. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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