World's best bank for financial institutions 2019: Morgan Stanley

You don’t need to be a tech banker to do FIG, but you need to understand the disruption that is taking place.” 

John Esposito, global head of FIG at Morgan Stanley in New York does not mince his words when he talks to Euromoney about fintech and the future of financial institutions. 

“People are being forced to re-evaluate old business models. In bank client meetings, all they want to talk about is the effect of disruption on their branches, so you had better understand what is going on.”

What is going on is the wholesale disruption of the financial institutions sector. “FIG bankers are raised to cover large caps,” Esposito points out. “Now there are hundreds and hundreds of firms attacking every part of the value chain. We all have to learn new skills.” 

Morgan Stanley has devoted time and energy to learning those skills and has continued to lead the pack in FIG this year. It has 150 people in the team globally – half in the US and the rest in Europe and Asia.