Registered Rep: You recently joined Morgan Stanley from Bear Stearns. What do you miss most?
Ed Moldaver: The Bear Stearns mentoring program, where I was assigned two kids and met with them bi-weekly. Also, senior managing directors had the use of a private partners' room where you would find Wall Street icons Alan “Ace” Greenberg and Jimmy Cayne.
RR: What's your most memorable experience as a financial advisor?
EM: Being referred to the “Trump Ocean Club” for $250 million in financing. We met with Ivanka, Donald Jr., Eric Trump, their staff and partners on the deal, and Donald Sr. at a later date.
RR: What's your morning ritual?
EM: Wake at 4:30 and work out, in the office around 6:45. Read the most published stories, news alerts on companies and analysts that I follow closely. Listen to the institutional morning call at 7:20. It really paints a superb picture of what's going on “behind the curtain” here in the U.S. and worldwide. At 8:10 I call my house and wish my kids a happy day. They get on the school bus at 8:17. Run the AUM Report to see how all accounts did collectively, then check all stock-managed accounts and compare them to the market. That's my report card. List households and specific accounts that need my attention today. Share this with my trading and sales assistants, and make the plan for the day.
RR: What's one thing you'd change about the financial services industry?
EM: We sometimes reward selfish people who lack integrity.
RR: Tell us about some of your worst and best investment decisions.
EM: Not using outside managers earlier, and trying to manage every asset class by myself. It becomes overwhelming. I've hired some of the top managers in each category, and last year paid them a combined $650,000. In return, my clients get some of the most successful managers, and I get performance with less stress and more time to spend with clients and referrals.