The bank has climbed from fourth position in 2019 to being top of the issuer ranking in the US market.

US investment bank Morgan Stanley has emerged as the top issuer group in terms of sales during the fourth quarter of 2020 with 640 structured products valued at US$2.6 billion, according to SRP data.

Trailing closely behind on the US league rankings are Citi with US$2.3 billion (661 products), Goldman Sachs with US$2.1 billion (668), J.P. Morgan with US$1.9 billion (822) and Barclays with US$1.8 billion (362).

This can be compared with Q4 19’s top contenders J.P. Morgan (US$2.5 billion/1,098), Barclays (US$2.3 billion/522), Goldman Sachs (US$1.9 billion/681) and Morgan Stanley (US$1.7 billion/542).

The bank led by James P. Gorman (pictured) has posted both record net revenues of US$48 billion - an increase of 16% year-over-year, and a net income of US$11 billion, up 22%.

Equity sales and trading net revenues increased by 32% from a year ago, driven by a strong performance across products and geographies and increased client activity, with particular strength in derivatives.

Fixed income sales and trading net revenues increased to US$1.6 billion in Q4 20 from US$1.3 billion in Q4 19.

This was attributed to strong performance across businesses, benefitting from strong client engagement and market volatility, with notable strength in foreign exchange and credit products.

Investment management recorded a drop in net revenues of 19% totalling $1.1 billion compared with $1.4 billion a year ago.

Asset management revenues increased to US$870m from a year ago (US$740m) driven by record assets under management (AUM) as well as strong investment performance and positive net flows.

Investments revenues decreased to US$260m from a year ago (US$670m) due to significant gains reflected in the prior year quarter related to an investment’s initial public offering within an Asia private equity fund.

Morgan Stanley as an issuer group has 5,935 live structured products in the US market, according to the SRP database. The main distributors of products hedged by Morgan Stanley include UBS Financial Services, Incapital, Bank Leumi, and Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

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Click here to view Morgan Stanley’s Q4 20 earnings.