Digging more deeply into the workplace channel of its broad wealth management ecosystem, Morgan Stanley today announced its Morgan Stanley at Work subsidiary will buy American Financial Services (AFS), a leading provider of nonqualified executive benefit plans to employers of all sizes.
The deal comes a week after Morgan Stanley revealed its Connected Client Journey, its ambitious plan to use data management on a level unseen in financial services to this point, where customer activity in one area, such as workplace 401(k) or equity participation, automatically generates a variety of prompts in other areas.
“The workplace is a key story to watch over the next five years in the wealth management industry,” said Jed Finn, COO of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, through a press release. “It is the single most important source of wealth creation, and at Morgan Stanley we have been hard at work creating an end-to-end integrated offering where we can help plan participants reach their financial goals and corporations manage the full spectrum of their financial wellness, equity, and now with the addition of AFS, deferred cash offerings.”
AFS’ business capabilities include plan design, implementation and online enrollment, funding analysis and optimization, and client management and plan recordkeeping, the press release said.