Morgan Stanley economist to head up new wealth management team

Morgan Stanley chief US economist Ellen Zentner is leaving her post to lead a newly created team within the bank’s wealth management business.

Zentner will lead the new thematic and macro investing team at Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Office starting Aug. 1, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg News. 

Ellen Zentner, managing director and chief US economist for Morgan Stanley & Co., during the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) economic policy conference in Dallas, Texas, US, on Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. The theme of event is "Beyond the Business Cycle: Adapting to a New Global Paradigm." Photographer: Nitashia Johnson/Bloomberg

She will take over as chief economic strategist and global head of thematic and macro investing and will report to Lisa Shalett, the chief investment officer of the bank’s wealth management unit.

Zentner will focus on “publishing thought leadership on major macro and economic themes,” as well as working on advancing thematic research, Shalett said in the memo circulated Monday.

Zentner, who was head of US macroeconomics at Morgan Stanley since 2015, was one of the last remaining female chief US economists on Wall Street. Men primarily hold those positions at the nearly two dozen financial institutions designated by the Federal Reserve as primary dealers — prestigious organizations that help the central bank implement monetary policy.

The memo didn’t say who’d succeed Zentner. She declined to comment.