Morgan Stanley AUM rises 9% for quarter, 41% in year

Morgan Stanley Investment Management's assets under management or supervision reached $781 billion as of Dec. 31, up 9% from Sept. 30 and 41% from a year earlier, an earnings statement from parent company Morgan Stanley said Wednesday.

Net flows into MSIM's long-term strategies, excluding liquidity funds, totaled $8.5 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared to $10.4 billion in the prior quarter and $6.7 billion in the same quarter of 2019, the earnings report showed.

Broken down by asset class, liquidity strategies had $288 billion in AUM, up 6% from Sept. 30 and up 47% from Dec. 31, 2019. MSIM managed $242 billion in equities assets, up 20% from the previous quarter and up 75% from the year-earlier period.

Alternatives AUM was $153 billion as of Dec. 31, up 2% from Sept. 30 and up 10% from 12 months prior. Fixed income had $98 billion in AUM, up 7% from three months prior and up 24% from 12 months prior.

MSIM's total net inflow, including liquidity strategies, was $25 billion in the current quarter, compared with $12.5 billion in the previous three-month period and $29.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019.

By asset class, liquidity funds had $16.5 billion in net inflows in the fourth quarter, $2.1 billion in third quarter and $22.4 billion in 2019's fourth quarter. Equities experienced $12.2 billion in net inflows for the fourth quarter, compared to $10 billion in the third and $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Fixed income, meanwhile, saw $1.3 billion in net outflows during the quarter ended Dec. 31, vs. net inflows of $3.1 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30 and net inflows of $3.4 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019. Alternatives had $2.4 billion in net outflows during the fourth quarter, compared to $2.7 billion in outflows in the third quarter and $900 million in net inflows for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Chairman and CEO James P. Gorman told analysts on Thursday’s earnings call that with Morgan Stanley’s acquisition of Eaton Vance, which was announced in October, the firm “will create a premier global asset manager with $1.4 trillion in assets under management.” He added that “the integration planning is going well” and expects “to close the transaction no later than early in the second quarter.”

MSIM's net revenue was up 4% to $1.1 billion in the quarter ended Dec. 31 but down 19% for the year. As of Dec. 31, the investment unit's net income dropped 30% to $158 million in the three-month period and declined 50% for the year.