Former Morgan Stanley Wealth Management boss lands gig at Wilsons

afr.com:

Matthew Nicholls, the former co-head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, has reappeared at Wilsons as head of private wealth advice.

Mathew Nicholls, former co-head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Australia. 

Nicholls left Morgan Stanley in May. He spent 15 years there and also led its risk management and investment management solutions unit. The departure came shortly after the exit of other staff, including Melbourne private client adviser Julian Reeves, national administration manager Cassandra Drummond and state risk manager Peter Somerville.

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has spent the year reworking its operations, focusing on Australia’s wealthiest individuals. Ord Minnett will take on the investment bank’s less wealthy clients.

At Wilsons, Nicholls will report to the firm’s head of private wealth, Casimir Skillecorn. The hire adds another ex-bulge bracket banker to the line-up. Wilsons’ chairman is John Prendiville, a two-decade veteran from Macquarie who joined the firm last year, while Casimir and chief executive Brad Gale were both at Goldman Sachs.

The appointment of Nicholls, who was made co-head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management alongside Rebecca Hill only in November, comes amid significant change in the sector. UBS, which had quit wealth management locally, is back after acquiring Credit Suisse, while Goldman Sachs – which serves only the wealthiest clients – is doubling its staff count.

At Wilsons, Skillecorn has three goals for the business to reach by 2025, including increasing its average revenue by adviser and its funds under advice.

“The number of high net wealth clients seeking advice continues to grow and the number of advisers that service this market has halved over the last 5 years,”