Morgan Stanley’s global chief insists world economy more stable than many imagine
James Gorman shares his views on the opening up in China, Trump and Macron, and wonders why so much worry has surrounded bitcoin: “It’s just another form of stored value, and not a very big one.”
The world economy is rather more stable than many imagine, according to James Gorman, chief executive and chairman of Morgan Stanley.
In fact, speaking in an interview with South China Morning Post, Gorman suggested there were a number of topics in the world today about which he felt rather more fuss was being made than they deserve.
This stability even rolls into his bank’s own business, as while the lack of global volatility has hurt fixed income trading revenues, Morgan Stanley’s revenues in the US have been boosted by a strong performance by Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division, traditionally one of the more conservative parts of the banking industry.
There is relatively little global turmoil. Geopolitically the world is as stable as any decade it has been in any decade in the last 10
Gorman now wishes to perform a similar trick in Asia Pacific and is looking to build out the US investment banking giant’s wealth management business across Asia, joining what’s becoming an increasingly crowded field.
“There is relatively little global turmoil. Geopolitically the world is as stable as any decade it has been in any decade in the last 10,” Gorman said.
“Change in the geopolitical space is relatively mild, the political space is full of angst, but nothing around the world is actually changing beyond that feeling of angst, because the economies are performing relatively well underneath it all.”
Gorman noted that while US voters elected Donald Trump, the UK voted to leave the EU and there has been a wave of younger politicians come to power around the world, from Macron in France to Arden in the New Zealand , “no fundamental change has occurred apart from Brexit”.