This past Wednesday, Morgan Stanley alerted fund firms that it will be trimming 850 funds from its platform by January 1, an industry chief tells MFWire.

Andy Saperstein Morgan Stanley Investment Management Head of Wealth Management Group

A spokesperson from Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

The wirehouse currently distributes around 3,000 funds. Word is the firm's team will decide which to nix based on several factors, including fees, Morningstar ratings, and performance.

Additionally, the firm will be making changes to its revenue sharing arrangement for the Emerging Managers and Global Managers programs, which will include a significant price increase for some firms. These changes will also go through by the start of the new year.

The rationalization itself doesn't come as much of a surprise—Merrill has announced cuts to the number of funds on its platform and Wells has plans to do the same. However, with only two weeks notice for the fund firms, Morgan Stanley's is the most expedited change yet.

"We had no heads up this was happening. Unlike Merrill or Wells who sent out their signals, this one came out of the blue for us," says the source.

Mutual funds aren't the only products experiencing these last-minute changes. Morgan Stanley also plans to begin charging revenue sharing for its retirement accounts, our sister publication 401kWire reports.

 

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