Morgan Stanley again targets wealth management margins above 20 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley is once again targeting pretax profit margins of 20 percent or more in its wealth management business, according to a presentation by CEO James Gorman on Wednesday.

Morgan Stanley is targeting margins of 20 to 22 percent by 2015, assuming no change in interest rates or equity markets.

The bank issued a 20 percent target when it first announced plans to acquire Citigroup Inc’s Smith Barney brokerage business. It later scaled back its ambitions to a “preteens” margin by mid-2013 due to unexpected costs and delays related to the merger.

Having met that goal two quarters early, it is now aiming for higher margins, according to Gorman’s presentation.

(Reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra- editing by John Wallace)