MS vs PM Comparison

Morgan Stanley is a massive global financial services firm, with offices in 42 countries and more than 80,000 employees as of year-end 2024. The firm cut its teeth in investment banking and institutional trading, where it maintains a strong presence today, but generates the lion share of its income from wealth and asset management franchises, where it boasted $7.9 trillion in client assets at the end of its most recent fiscal year. After reincorporation as a bank holding company in the wake of the great financial crisis, Morgan Stanley also boasts a top 10 banking franchise by deposits, with nearly $400 billion in customer deposits, predominately attributable to cash sweeps from its wealth management and brokerage businesses.

Created from the international operations of Altria in 2008, Philip Morris International sells cigarettes and reduced-risk products, including heat sticks, vapes, and oral nicotine offerings, primarily outside of the US. With the 2023 acquisition of Swedish Match, a leading manufacturer of traditional oral tobacco products and nicotine pouches primarily in the US and Scandinavia, PMI has not only diversified away from smokable products but also gained a toehold in the US to sell its Iqos heated tobacco product.