A sign marks the Morgan Stanley offices in downtown Manhattan in New York City. (AFP)

Rival investment banks are exploiting the upheaval at Morgan Stanley by trying to poach staff and clients.

The expected approaches follow the departure of three top executives after a management shake-up that involved replacing president Stephan Newhouse with two co-presidents. 

Vikram Pandit, former president of the institutional securities business, and John Havens, former head of equities, resigned on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Guru Ramakrishnan, global head of trading technology, also quit.

Mr Newhouse, who is considering his options, would be a particular prize, rivals said: he has a record of winning mandates.

Mr Pandit, who has declined to comment, was said by people close to him to be waiting to see if Mr Purcell survives before making a decision on his next move.

According to the chief executive of one Wall Street firm, other likely targets include Morgan Stanley's US equities team as well as disgruntled merger advisers.

The head of investment banking at another bank said: "As a banker, all you have is a handful of key relationships with chief executives. They need to trust you, and you need to trust your firm to deliver for you. So when you introduce your most important clients to someone like Vikram [Panjit] and say, 'This is the future of our firm', and he is ousted the next day, you look like a shmuck."

Wall Street's keen interest in hiring staff from Morgan Stanley appears to confirm a warning by eight of the bank's advisory directors, who told the board this month that the Morgan Stanley was "at great risk of losing more key professionals".

Mr Purcell this week acknowledged that completing the shake-up without losing talent would have been ideal. But he said he was obliged to take a chance.

The dissident advisory directors disagree and have launched a public campaign to oust Mr Purcell.

Mr Purcell has called the dissident advisory directors "senior citizens".

Nevertheless, his critics are experienced at boardroom intrigue and dead set on removing him by persuading shareholders that talented staff were prepared to leave.

But Guy Moskowski, an equity analyst at Merrill Lynch, said the fear of "brain-drain" was overblown. "The core franchise remains solid," he said.

Mr Purcell has taken steps to rally the troops, including convening a managing director meeting where Joseph Perella, a rainmaker promoted to vice-chairman on Tuesday, gave a rousing speech, according to some present.

(BBC)

upheaval: （動亂；劇變）