Morgan Stanley, known as a Wall Street bank, continues to invest heavily in its wealth management business, has hired Betterment’s chief marketing officer.
The bank said Tuesday that it hired Paul Halpern to be head of Deposits and Banking Services for the Morgan Stanley Private Banking Group. In his new position, he will report to the head of the group, Eric Heaton, and be responsible for leading the group’s strategy and execution for cash management and deposits.
Halpern will also work closely with Paul Vienick, the head of Morgan Stanley Online/Mobile and Digital Banking, on developing products and solutions that financial advisors can use to engage clients.
In recent years, Morgan Stanley has worked to grow and improve its $2.4 trillion wealth management unit through technology. It spent 2 years integrating BlackRock’s Aladdin risk management system into its platform, and adjusted its 2019 compensation plan for its more than 15,000 advisors to incentivize them to use the newest tools the firm has rolled out. Morgan Stanley integrated LifeYield’s tax optimization software in November and debuted its own robo advisor in December. It also has been developing its own goals-based financial planning platform and Next Best Action, an internal recommendation engine to guide advisors’ decisions.
But the brokerage hasn’t just been investing heavily in new technology, it’s been hiring personnel to support and drive it forward.
Halpern joins Morgan Stanley from Betterment, where he was chief marketing officer for about 1 year. Prior to that, he held a number of management positions at Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch, including head of Merrill Lynch Segment and Brand Marketing. Prior to that, he was an executive who oversaw marketing at E*Trade Financial Corp.
“Having experienced a range of different models, it’s clear that the future of wealth management is the combination of industry-leading technology and world-class personalized financial advice, and Morgan Stanley is strongly positioned to deliver this unique combination of value to their clients,” Halpern said in a statement.