Morgan Stanley Real Estate (MSRE) today announced the official opening of Morgan Stanley Properties (MSP) Shanghai Branch which further demonstrates the Firm's commitment to China's real estate market and to helping clients and investors capitalize on the opportunities in this high growth sector.
"This is an important day for Morgan Stanley — another step in achieving our vision to be the leading international financial services firm in China," said Alasdair Morrison, Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, at the opening ceremony which took place at a dinner cruise on the HuangPu River. More than 150 local and foreign guests joined the occasion.
"We have been one of, if not the single largest global real estate investors in Shanghai since we made our first investment here in 2003," he added. "With our team now permanently in Shanghai, our total capital commitment to China will continue to grow and we will continue to make creative, landmark property investments."
Morgan Stanley Real Estate will invest in real estate portfolios across all property types in China, including publicly traded or privately held real estate companies, and direct real estate assets and developments.
In his speech delivered at the opening ceremony, Guest of Honor Mr. Ji Xiaohui, Vice Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Government and Head of the Ministry of Finance Office said: "It gives me great pleasure to represent the Shanghai Municipal Government to extend our warmest congratulations to Morgan Stanley on its MSP Shanghai office opening today."
Mr. Ji said building Shanghai into an international financial centre has been a top priority for the government. "We welcome domestic and international financial institutions and talents to come to Shanghai and help achieve this goal. We hope leading international firms like Morgan Stanley would be able to contribute significantly to this ongoing process."
Morgan Stanley Real Estate is comprised of three major global businesses: Investing, Banking, and Lending. Since 1991, Morgan Stanley has acquired $73.1 billion of real estate assets worldwide and currently manages approximately $40 billion in real estate assets on behalf of its clients. In addition, Morgan Stanley Real Estate provides a complete range of market-leading investment banking services to its clients including advice on strategy, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings, as well as underwriting public and private debt and equity financings. Morgan Stanley is also a global leader in real estate lending and, using its own capital, originated upwards of $24 billion in commercial mortgages in 2005. For more information about Morgan Stanley Real Estate, go to www.morganstanley.com/realestate.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, investment management, and credit services. With more than 600 offices in 30 countries, Morgan Stanley connects people, ideas and capital to help clients achieve their financial aspirations.
Photo Caption: Guest of Honor Mr. Ji Xiaohui(second from left), Vice Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Government and Head of the Ministry of Finance Office, joined Mr. Alasdair Morrison (second from right), Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, Mr. Michael Berchtold (first from left), President of Morgan Stanley Asia and Mr. Zain Fancy (first from right), Executive Director & Head of Real Estate Asia Pacific, Morgan Stanley Properties, to drink a toast in celebration of the official opening of Morgan Stanley Properties Shanghai Office.