Another Morgan Stanley Complex Manager Leaves, This Time in L.A.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a complex manager crown, at least at Morgan Stanley.

Robert Perry, a Smith Barney/Morgan Stanley branch manager since 1993 and managing director of the firm’s four-branch Beverly Hills complex since 2012, has left the firm, according to two sources.  

His departure was announced to the branches this morning and to his branch managers on Monday, the same day that Morgan Stanley’s veteran Dallas complex manager Ben Fujihara parted ways, one of the sources said.

Perry, who took a leave of absence earlier this year but returned after a few weeks, did not respond to a message left on his office phone. At least three brokers at branches he oversaw were dismissed amid accusations of sexual conduct or harassment issues earlier this year. Perry was not directly implicated in the cases but may have been under scrutiny for temperament or behavior issues, said three sources at the firm.

A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman confirmed Perry’s departure but declined to discuss the reason and the import of having two veterans leave on the same day.

The role of complex managers and the performance metrics determining their compensation have changed, particularly since large brokerage firms in the past two years retreated from the expensive practice of bolstering client assets (and firm revenue) by hiring experienced brokers. Managers are still expected to keep morale among their staff strong, but running interference for brokers has become difficult as compliance and customer-sales decisions become more centralized.

The compensation metrics, meanwhile, have become more weighted toward toward broker retention, team-based sales and managed account asset growth.

In addition to overseeing Morgan Stanley’s Beverly Hills complex, which includes a branch in Santa Monica, Perry has been director of the firm’s Los Angeles metro region since 2002, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also has been serving as branch manager of Morgan Stanley’s 42-advisor Westwood Plaza office and co-manager of its nearby 50-broker Beverly Hills branch on Wilshire Boulevard, according to the firm’s websites.  

Perry, who first registered as a securities rep 33 years ago with Related Equities Corp., has been with Morgan Stanley and its predecessors, Smith Barney and Lehman Brothers, for 26 years, according to his BrokerCheck history.

—Mason Braswell contributed to this story.