Morgan Stanley to Cut Several Hundred Jobs in Wealth Unit

Morgan Stanley is planning to eliminate several hundred jobs, the first such move under Chief Executive Officer Ted Pick.

The cuts will affect less than 1% of employees in the wealth-management business, which has about 40,000 workers and is the firm’s largest unit, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

A representative for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Pick took the helm in January from James Gorman, who eliminated more than 3,000 jobs last year amid a renewed focus on expenses and a slump in fees from a dealmaking drought.

The bank’s shares have been the worst-performing among its biggest US peers this year, down about 10%.

Last month, the company warned that it will take longer to achieve its profit-margin goals in the wealth unit and signaled that the below-target results will last a little while longer.

See: Morgan Stanley Warns of Wealth Unit’s Lower Margins

The division, which got a boost for much of last year from higher net interest income, could see that benefit start to fade if the Federal Reserve starts lowering interest rates later this year.