Morgan Stanley grows services in Canada

Morgan Stanley is expanding its wealth-management business into Canada, taking on the country’s large banks with services that will include a discount brokerage and robo adviser.

The New York-based firm plans to bring Canadians wealth-management offerings including a discount self-directed investing service, a team-based “virtual” advisory business and full-service financial advisers, it said Wednesday. The move will complement the stock-plan administrative services the bank provides in Canada.

“This is going to enable us to expand our footprint into Canada from a wealth-management standpoint with a solution that is really tailored to the Canadian marketplace,” Laura Adams, head of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Canada, said in an interview.

The push comes a year after Morgan Stanley bought Calgary-based Solium Capital Inc., which had operated in Canada since 1999, and formed the Morgan Stanley at Work service. The business serves more than 350 Canadian companies and 275,000 Canadian stockplan participants with more than $17.5 billion in assets.