Morgan Stanley Smith Barney starts a round of staff cuts

Executives at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney have begun a round of layoffs in a bid to cut costs resulting from the massive merger of the two firms, which was completed last month. It is unclear exactly how many employees at the New York-based brokerage firm will be affected by the job cuts, but a spokeswoman for the company said that none of its 18,500 financial advisers will be let go. People who serve in “mostly support functions” will be affected, said spokeswoman Christine Pollack. A Smith Barney employee, who asked not to be identified, said that several directors and managing directors will also be let go Ms. Pollack declined to comment on the details of the staff reductions, except to say that the cuts will be split “roughly evenly” between employees who came from Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney. Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney completed their combination on June 1. Company officials noted at the time that they expected to achieve about $1.1 billion in cost savings from the integration. News of the job cuts was first reported this morning on FundFire.com.