Morgan Stanley 2004 Annual Report Download - page 4

While฀ we฀ do฀ not฀ control฀ our฀ stock฀ price,฀ we฀ do฀
control฀the฀performance฀of฀the฀firm฀against฀our฀stated฀
objectives฀and฀our฀vision฀for฀the฀future.฀This฀perfor-
mance฀should฀be฀the฀driving฀factor฀of฀our฀stock฀price฀
over฀the฀long฀term.฀
So฀I฀thought฀it฀appropriate฀to฀address฀this฀subject฀in฀
my฀annual฀letter฀to฀you,฀our฀shareholders฀and฀clients,฀
our฀supporters฀and฀friends:฀to฀articulate฀our฀vision,฀
to฀review฀our฀strategy฀in฀executing฀that฀vision,฀to฀
express฀my฀confidence฀in฀the฀rightness฀of฀the฀course฀
we฀have฀chosen฀and฀the฀people฀we฀have฀in฀place฀to฀
take฀your฀company฀to฀new฀levels฀of฀success.฀
When฀ we฀ shortened฀ our฀ brand฀ name฀ to฀
Morgan฀Stanley฀in฀2000,฀we฀chose฀as฀our฀corporate฀
logomark฀a฀blue฀“directional”฀triangle,฀pointing฀to฀the฀
northeast,฀where฀all฀financial฀success฀is฀traditionally฀
plotted.฀The฀points฀of฀the฀triangle฀itself฀represent฀our฀
three฀primary฀constituencies฀—฀our฀people,฀clients฀
and฀shareholders฀—฀each฀of฀whom฀we฀owe฀a฀commit-
ment฀of฀excellence.
It฀is฀our฀stated฀vision฀that฀a฀business฀culture฀focused฀
on฀the฀best฀and฀brightest฀people฀in฀absolute฀service฀
to฀the฀success฀of฀our฀clients฀is฀an฀unbeatable฀combi-
nation฀ in฀ generating฀ superior฀ returns฀ for฀ our฀
shareholders.฀This฀vision฀is฀the฀underpinning฀of฀both฀
the฀strategic฀framework฀and฀competitive฀advantage฀
of฀Morgan฀Stanley.
Our฀strategic฀framework
From฀the฀time฀of฀the฀merger,฀our฀approach฀has฀been฀
thoughtful฀and฀deliberate.฀There฀are฀three฀principles฀
which,฀taken฀collectively,฀make฀our฀strategy฀unique.
First,฀we฀are฀a฀financial฀services฀firm฀focused฀on฀growth.
Second,฀ we฀ believe฀ our฀ unique฀ mix฀ of฀ businesses฀
provides฀both฀strategic฀synergies฀and฀financial฀balance.฀
Third,฀and฀perhaps฀most฀important,฀we฀have฀chosen฀
to฀compete฀in฀each฀of฀our฀businesses฀with฀a฀concept฀
we฀call฀“skills฀over฀capital.”
These฀three฀pillars฀created฀the฀market฀strategy฀that฀
brought฀ us฀ together.฀They฀ are฀ the฀ source฀ of฀ our฀
strength฀today.
As฀a฀result,฀shareholders฀should฀expect฀that฀we฀will฀
continue฀to฀grow฀market฀shares฀in฀our฀businesses.฀
They฀should฀expect฀that฀we฀will฀invest฀sufficiently฀
in฀our฀people,฀systems฀and฀innovation฀to฀grow฀those฀
shares;฀that฀we฀will฀be฀more฀profitable฀and฀realize฀
greater฀ organic฀ growth฀ as฀ a฀ result฀ of฀ it.฀ And,฀ to฀
the฀extent฀that฀we฀can฀propel฀growth฀across฀busi-
nesses฀—what฀I฀ ascribe฀to฀the฀benefit฀of฀the฀“full฀
firm”—฀we฀will฀further฀differentiate฀our฀firm฀relative฀
to฀competitors.
A฀financial฀services฀firm฀focused฀on฀growth
In฀our฀estimation,฀retail฀payments,฀financial฀advice,฀
asset฀management฀and฀global฀capital฀markets฀capa-
bilities฀for฀institutions฀represent฀the฀most฀compelling฀
secular฀growth฀opportunities฀in฀financial฀services.฀
We฀are฀extremely฀well-positioned฀for฀each฀of฀these฀
opportunities.
On฀the฀payments฀front,฀non-cash฀transactions฀are฀
replacing฀cash฀at฀a฀significant฀pace.฀Together฀with฀
normal฀growth฀in฀retail฀sales,฀there฀is฀an฀extraordi-
nary฀opportunity฀in฀retail฀payment฀networks.฀Free฀to฀
compete฀on฀a฀more฀equal฀footing฀after฀an฀important฀
ruling฀by฀the฀U.S.฀Supreme฀Court,฀and฀strengthened฀
by฀our฀acquisition฀of฀the฀PULSE®฀debit฀card฀system,฀
2