How to Pick Stocks Like Morgan Stanley With Dan Skelly

**Josh Brown** (0:00)
So, this is gonna be fun. How long have you been at Morgan?

**Dan Skelly** (0:03)
21 years out of college. It only feels like 20

**Josh Brown** (0:08)
Wow.

**Dan Skelly** (0:08)
So, I'm trying to...

**Michael Batnick** (0:10)
What office do you work in?

**Dan Skelly** (0:11)
At the moment, 757th Ave, but on my way back to 1585 Broadway.

**Josh Brown** (0:16)
They move you guys around?

**Dan Skelly** (0:17)
They move us around. They keep the real estate moving.

**Josh Brown** (0:19)
Okay.

**Dan Skelly** (0:21)
But as you probably well know, 1585's gone through like a five-year construction, so some of us were kind of off grid, as I call it.
This will be my third time going back to 1585 in 21 years. And I always say everyone loves a trilogy, so that's my mantra.

**Josh Brown** (0:37)
So Morgan Stanley is so big that whenever I meet a financial advisor from there, I ask them about other financial advisors that I know in New York, and they never know each other.

**Dan Skelly** (0:48)
That's wild.

**Josh Brown** (0:50)
But that's the size of the firm, I'm saying.

**Michael Batnick** (0:52)
100%.

**Josh Brown** (0:52)
Right, because there's so many different offices, and it's just, I mean, I've said this, you don't have to agree or disagree, but I have said Gorman was incredible as a CEO, as a visionary, and that's why Morgan, is it 20 trillion now?

**Dan Skelly** (1:09)
Do you know?
Just under that, yeah. Between Wealth and MSUM?

**Michael Batnick** (1:13)
Yeah.

**Dan Skelly** (1:13)
It's something like 16, 17 trillion dollars.

**Josh Brown** (1:15)
So basically, stealing Smith Barney, brilliant move. During the height of the crisis.

**Dan Skelly** (1:22)
In phases, like really well executed.

**Josh Brown** (1:24)
Joint venture, then we'll take a third, we'll take another third, fine, we'll take the whole thing. Buying E-Trade, the Morgan Stanley Atwork platform is a lead generator.

**Dan Skelly** (1:34)
My opinion, I think that's the key. That's like, that was incredible.

**Josh Brown** (1:38)
Yeah. So I mean, it's, and you were there, you watched the whole thing happen.

**Dan Skelly** (1:42)
I watched the whole thing. When I started Josh in 05, wealth as a percent of overall revenues was 8% of the firm, and pro forma for all the different deals you just eluded to, it's like 60% of the firm's revenues now. I'm Dan Skelly.

**Josh Brown** (1:54)
Oh, I'm sorry. So, right, so I think, what was the guy before, Mack?

**Dan Skelly** (2:01)
John Mack.

**Josh Brown** (2:02)
So I think John Mack understood the value of, let's go heavily, more heavily into advice, but Gorman actually executed it.

**Dan Skelly** (2:09)
Absolutely. And John was the one who went out and found James, who was at Merrill at the time, and had really revamped Merrill's wealth business.
And James, prior to that, as you probably also know, was a McKinsey consultant. So he brought this strategic consulting background as well. And you said it, like, sometimes timing is everything. So he had the strategy, the timing, the pricing.
And, you know, the multiple and the re-rating has come together since that point.

**Josh Brown** (2:36)
Yeah. I wonder if there are still Smith Barney guys walking around saying, I was Smith Barney. I was legacy Smith Barney.

**Dan Skelly** (2:41)
You're looking at one. So quick story for you. In college, sophomore year, I interned at a financial advisor's office at Smith Barney. My junior year, I had like one of these official analyst programs at MSIM, actually, hired into Wealth in 5 full time. So after the merger, depending on what office legacy branch I would go into, I was either a Smith Barney guy or a Morgan Stanley guy. Very strategic.

**Josh Brown** (3:05)
Right. And then there were also Morgan Stanley Dean Witter guys.

**Michael Batnick** (3:08)
100%. Predating the Smith Barney. From 97 Yeah.
All right.

**Dan Skelly** (3:12)
So it's been quite an evolution.

**Michael Batnick** (3:14)
Yeah.

**Josh Brown** (3:14)
It's a cool front row seat that you've seen.

**Michael Batnick** (3:16)
Thank you, Josh. I appreciate it.

**Josh Brown** (3:18)
To see that all develop. How are we looking, guys?

**Michael Batnick** (3:20)
Headphones on, everybody. Oh, yeah. Headphones on.

**Dan Skelly** (3:23)
Mute your devices. OK to have my devices on my person?

**SPEAKER_4** (3:27)
OK.

**Dan Skelly** (3:28)
Thank you.

**Josh Brown** (3:29)
All righty.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:30)
Yeah.

**Josh Brown** (3:32)
Let me do not disturb.

**Michael Batnick** (3:33)
Do not disturb. Compound and Friends.

**Josh Brown** (3:35)
I think I'm doing that right.

**Michael Batnick** (3:39)
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