New Chief Executive For Asian Operations At Morgan Stanley

Last Tuesday, US bank Morgan Stanley announced their new chief executive for Asia, Owen Thomas. According to statements released by the bank, the new appointment exemplifies Stanley’s ongoing engagement in the region.

The bank was quick to act, after last month the former Asia chief suddenly left his base of operations in Hong Kong to return to his home-land of Germany citing personal reasons.

Sources state that Mr Thomas is a member of John Mack, Morgan Stanley’s CEO, selected inner circle, and is also responsible for the bank’s very advantageous move into the Japanese real estate investment market.

The 46 year old has spent the last 20 years with Morgan Stanley, during which time he has been developing real estate investments for the bank. Morgan Stanley has undergone large changes since John Mack was appointed CEO in 2005, including rapid expansion into international markets, especially in the fields of infrastructure and real estate, which had only been the ground of investment banking corporations before.

During a statement made on Tuesday, Mack said that Thomas had had helped to greatly improve international asset management, leading to a gain of $597bn from $428bn in the past two years.

The appointment of Thomas indicates the bank’s faith in him as a chief executive for Asian markets, as the company is planning high-steaks moves in the region in the coming months.

Morgan Stanley is looking to rid themselves of their passive 34% share in China International Capital Corp, the leading investment bank of China, and to this end they are agreeing to a minority share in Fortune Securities, one of China’s most renown brokerages.

After last years end to the long standing joint venture between Indian brokerage firm, JM Financial, and Morgan Stanley, the bank plans to move forward with plans to set up independent investment in the country.

During the last few years, Asia has become the world’s fastest growing market in initial public offerings, and Morgan Stanley along with many other banks are ensuring that they have adequate staff to manage the area.

Morgan Stanley has been establishing a large presence in the Chinese markets, and as such, the government-controlled China Investment Corp invested $5bn to counterpoise losses the bank had experienced due to subprime mortgages, and further strengthen the banks place in the region.

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