Morgan Stanley slims down property derivatives

Real estate special focus

Morgan Stanley has cut back its UK property derivatives business in London and Guy Ratcliffe, has left the firm. Ratcliffe, who joined Morgan Stanley 10 months ago to build up the property derivatives desk, was an executive director. A spokesman declined to comment on Ratcliffe’s departure.
This move comes as Morgan Stanley is in the midst of a firm-wide headcount reduction. In future, the London-based property derivatives business will operate with a leaner personnel structure, says a bank insider. It will still have a trading operation and Mike Weston, managing director and a long-time fixed-income salesperson, has been tasked with managing the sales element of property derivatives desk.