Morgan Stanley Wealth Management

Smith Barney

File:MorganStanleySmithBarney logo.gif
Company type	Acquired by Morgan Stanley
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Founded	1873
Founder	Charles D. Barney Edward B. Smith
Headquarters	New York , USA
Key people	Charles Johnston President
Products	Brokerage Investment Banking Asset Management
Revenue	$10.5 Billion USD 2007
Net income	$1.4 Billion USD 2007
Number of employees	14,858
Website	www.smithbarney.com

Smith Barney also known as Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is a joint venture company between Morgan Stanley and Citigroup.

On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup announced that Citigroup would sell 51% of Smith Barney to Morgan Stanley, creating Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which was formerly a division of Citigroup Capital Markets. The combined brokerage house has about 18,500 brokers and manages $1.7 trillion in client assets. Clients range from individual investors to small- and mid-sized businesses, as well as large corporations, non-profit organizations and family foundations.

History

Smith Barney & Co. was formed in 1938 through the merger of Charles D. Barney & Co., founded in 1873, and Edward B. Smith & Co., founded in 1892. In 1975 Smith Barney merged with Harris, Upham & Co. to form Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., which, in 1977, was placed under SBHU Holdings, a holding company. In 1982, SBHU Holdings was renamed Smith Barney Inc.

In the late 1980s the retail brokerage firm Smith Barney was owned by Sanford I. Weill's Primerica Financial Services. Commercial Credit purchased Primerica in 1988, for $1.5 billion. In 1992, they paid $722 million to buy a 27 percent share of Travelers Insurance and in 1993 acquired Shearson from American Express. By the end of 1993, the merged company was known as Travelers Group Inc. although the brokerage business continued to operate under the Smith Barney brand.

In September 1997, Travelers acquired Salomon Inc. (parent company of Salomon Brothers Inc.), for over $9 billion in stock, and merged it with its own investment arm to create Salomon Smith Barney. In April 1998 Travelers Group announced an agreement to undertake a $76 billion merger between Travelers and Citicorp, creating Citigroup, which at the time of the merger was the largest single financial services company in the world.

Sale of Smith Barney

On January 13, 2009, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup announced the merger of Smith Barney with Morgan Stanley's Global Wealth Management Group, with Morgan Stanley paying US$2.7 billion cash upfront to Citigroup for a 51 percent stake in the joint venture. The joint venture operates under the name "Morgan Stanley Smith Barney."

On June 1, 2009 Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. announced they closed early on the launch of their joint venture that combines Morgan Stanley's wealth management unit (including many former Dean Witter assets) with Citi's Smith Barney brokerage division. The new venture, called Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, was supposed to launch during the third quarter. The combined entity generates about $14 billion in net revenue, has 18,500 financial advisers, 1,000 locations worldwide and service about 6.8 million households.

Citigroup disclosed on September 17, 2009 they would sell their remaining shares in the group to partner Morgan Stanley.

Acclamation

BusinessWeek ranks Smith Barney No. 1 in customer service among full-service brokerage firms.

External links

• Smith Barney