By Lauren Tara LaCapra
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley said it has promoted 151 employees to managing director on Thursday, more than half of them in the institutional securities business.
Senior Morgan Stanley executives in New York, including Chief Executive Officer James Gorman, had been calling staff members to congratulate them on their promotions, Reuters reported earlier in the day. The calls began with employees in Asia late Wednesday, followed by other time zones into Thursday.
The new group of managing directors is 22 percent female, a spokesman said.
A year ago, 27 percent of those promoted to managing director were women.
Regionally, 61 percent of those promoted were based in the U.S., with 26 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 13 percent in Asia.
The total number of new managing directors is down slightly from the 153 Morgan Stanley promoted last year, but up from 144 promoted in 2013. The current group is much smaller than the more than 200 employees it promoted to managing director each year between 2009 through 2012.