“We went through some very difficult times where client trust and risk tolerance was eroded, and now we’re seeing a normalization of how the market is perceived,” said Dick Risch, founder of New York-based Risch Group, a search firm specializing in private banking and wealth management.
Morgan Stanley had the highest inflows into its fee-based accounts in two years during the first quarter. That helped the unit post its highest pretax margin since the joint venture was formed. Merrill Lynch’s revenue per financial adviser jumped 9 percent from a year earlier.
“It takes time to convince everybody of what you were and what you’re becoming,” said Marty Mosby, an analyst at Guggenheim Securities LLC in Memphis, Tennessee. “We’re just not there yet.”