Morgan Stanley CEO says AI could save financial advisers 10-15 hours a week

By Niket Nishant and Tatiana Bautzer

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The use of artificial intelligence (AI) could save Morgan Stanley's financial advisers between 10 and 15 hours a week, the bank's CEO Ted Pick told investors at a conference on Monday.

"This is potentially really game-changing," Pick said, adding that the bank's tool to transcribe and enter notes from client meetings into a database could boost advisers' productivity.

It could also help advisers fine-tune topics to discuss with wealthy clients and tailor investment products to their needs, he said.

Last year, Reuters reported Morgan Stanley was testing a generative AI chatbot developed with OpenAI.

Pick expects high interest rates in the U.S. to persist, echoing views from his counterparts Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase and David Solomon at Goldman Sachs.

"It's good for business - we'll be printing tickets," he said, by providing trading platforms, making markets or helping clients hedge their exposures in volatile trading conditions.

The bank plans to increase lending to high net worth clients through sophisticated products such as structured lending, Pick said.

"As deposits continue to grow, loans and tailored lending will grow," he said.

Separately, Pick said Morgan Stanley will maintain its "sacrosanct" dividend, while noting that stock buybacks would depend on the share prices. "I'm a dividend guy," he said.

The bank's stock has risen more than 12% in the past year.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Lananh Nguyen and Jan Harvey)