The position, posted on August 1, is to join the Investment Solutions Product Development team, which offers a wide-range of services that “support” more than $900 billion in assets under management across mutual funds, money market funds, 529 College Savings Plans and exchange-traded funds.
Specifically, the product manager hire would have a primary focus on creating packaged products and indexes.
The job advert is one indication that Morgan Stanley is taking crypto more seriously and looking to bulk up its product offering after launching a private passive fund in March 2021. As previously reported by The Block, the firm told its legion of financial advisors that it could offer crypto exposure via products operated by Galaxy Digital and NYDIG.
The product manager position suggests Morgan Stanley is keen to give those FAs more products to pick from, according to an executive at asset management firm Bitwise. The launch of a new index-based investment product or exchange-traded product, to be clear, would join a crowded field that covers firms like Invesco-Galaxy, Fidelity, Grayscale and many others.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley noted that the context of the ad is significant but cautioned observers to curb their potential enthusiasm.
“Hiring a mid-level person to work on something like this doesn’t guarantee a product comes to market,” said Horsley.
The job ad also indicates that the firm’s crypto product solutions could be levered by over 200 asset management firms.
Some of the responsibilities of the role will include identifying opportunities to promote financial advisor product usage “including presenting at home-office sponsored, branch and industry events,” “source product development opportunities across all investment strategies,” and “partner with more than 200 asset management firms to identify strategies that will enhance the overall quality of the platform.”
A representative for Morgan Stanley did not respond to a request for comment during out of work hours.