Morgan Stanley doesn't expect trading boom to continue

NEW YORK: Morgan Stanley Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Pruzan said on Wednesday the bank doesn't expect its sales and trading and investment banking business to perform as well in the third quarter as it had in the second.

Pruzan, at a virtual conference hosted by Barclays, said that August activity levels had still been good and the bank had seen "no real slowdown".

"From an Institutional Securities Group (ISG) perspective, we're not going to have as good a quarter as we did in the second quarter, but I would say it's sort of better than a typical summer quarter," Pruzan said.

During the second quarter, Wall Street's big investment banks gained from huge swings in financial markets due to the coronavirus crisis.

Pruzan said the bank was still seeing "very constructive markets" across all parts of its sales and trading and investment banking business.

JP Morgan said on Tuesday that its third-quarter trading revenue would be up about 20% from a year earlier.

Pruzan said he expected net interest income at the bank's wealth management business would "drift down a little bit" in the third quarter, in line with previous guidance.

Pruzan also confirmed the bank is on track to complete its $13 billion acquisition of discount brokerage E*Trade Financial Corp in the fourth quarter, in line with previous guidance.

He said the bank's capital strength meant it had "real flexibility" for pursuing opportunities beyond the E*Trade deal. The bank is open to opportunities that make strategic sense in investment management, Pruzan said.