Brian Chappatta, Columnist

Morgan Stanley Targets Young Money With E*Trade

The Wall Street giant heads down-market to reach more customers.

February 20, 2020 at 4:22 PM UTC

Brian Chappatta is managing editor of Bloomberg News' leveraged finance and distressed debt teams. He was previously managing editor and team leader of its wealth group. Before that he was a Bloomberg Opinion markets and finance columnist and a bonds reporter for Bloomberg News.

The future.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

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Morgan Stanley is trading in its white shoes for Converse Chuck Taylors.

That’s the initial impression on Wall Street at least after the bank announced Thursday that it had agreed to buy discount brokerage E*Trade Financial Corp. for $13 billion in an all-stock takeover, the biggest acquisition by a large U.S. bank since the financial crisis. It would add E*Trade’s $360 billion of client assets to Morgan Stanley’s $2.7 trillion and instantly give the bank more direct access to consumers through digital banking and brokerage services. While the two brands would remain distinct under the arrangement, it seems on its face like a match between two companies with polar opposite reputations.