Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference | New York 2026

Eric Hopp: Here at the U.S. Financials Conference, across asset managers, we’re seeing a secular trend of increased allocation to alternatives.

We’re seeing increased diversification across various sub-sectors. Infrastructure, in particular, across digital connectivity, data, power, and real estate, has become a significant theme for asset managers who are trying to capitalize on the AI transformation megatrend of investment.

John Esposito: The key takeaways today from the regional banks at the U.S. Financials Conference really all revolve around strength, durability, and consistency of earnings.

Whether it’s growing net interest margins, strong fee income growth, or a strong credit environment, both on the consumer and commercial side, all are leading to excellent profitability. Returns on assets and returns on equity are well above ten-year averages.

Christopher Dieck: So this is my first time at the U.S. Financials Conference for Morgan Stanley. My clients, who are consumer finance businesses, are talking about the strength of the U.S. consumer.

Loss ratios and delinquencies are low relative to historical levels, and that’s given them the confidence to deploy capital into growth assets at attractive returns.

So here at the U.S. financials conference, we're hearing a lot of conversation and chatter over the consumer and how that consumer has been able to be so resilient despite higher gas prices and inflation concerns. 

Most of the card issuers we spoke with flagged that consumer spending has actually increased over the past quarter, despite the impact of those challenges coming through.

The jobs market is still pretty healthy at this point, despite some of the AI displacement fears. 

You've also had a really nice year for tax refunds supporting the consumer. And frankly, historically, when you look at higher gas prices and oil spikes, it takes more than a few months for that to really impact the consumer spending pattern and delinquencies and the like.

So overall, the consumer is still in a good spot. 

At the same time, a number of the companies did really flag that we need to be careful and cautious over the next six months, something that could start to impact the consumer in the back half of the year. 

Another important topic that came up in a lot of our conversations was the expenses associated with strategic initiatives around technology, AI and the like.

I think a number of companies are grappling with higher expenses in the near term. That's a key area of focus for investors as they try to understand and balance the risk of maybe some erosion to near-term profitability while driving to stronger returns over the long run. 

My name is Jeff Adelson, Consumer Finance Analyst at Morgan Stanley Research. 

We're here at the 17th annual Morgan Stanley U.S. Financials Conference.

We've had a variety of banks of all sizes present up on stage, and I think the message has been fairly consistent. Yes, you are seeing some volatility in the macro environment. Yes, there are some concerns around geopolitics, but most corporate clients and consumers have moved on.

And then as you think about capital markets, the capital markets updates have also been positive. From an investment banking perspective, pipelines are strong.

Most investors have been worried about deposit competition picking up. The update from the conference is that we haven't quite seen it pick up as much as people feared just yet. Competition has been fairly rational.

And the last piece of the discussion on stage has been around a genetic AI, and what that might do for deposit costs down the line.

Most banks agree that while that is something that they're watching, given the services that banks provide, there is clearly a reason for why low-cost deposits should continue within the banking system. Any yield-seeking behavior that was happening already happened as rates were moving higher.

My name is Manan Gosalia. I'm the U.S. Large-Cap and Mid-Cap Banks Analyst at Morgan Stanley Research.