2027 Institutional Equity Co-Op (United States)

Overview & Placement

Morgan Stanley's Institutional Equity Division (IED) is a world leader in the origination, distribution and trading of equity, equity-linked and equity-derivative securities. The Division services a global Institutional client base, providing clients with innovative product solutions that help to generate alpha within their portfolios.

Co-Ops will spend approximately 6 months fully immersed on a desk within IED. Desks include:

• Global Institutional Equity Sales: Responsible for managing and deepening relationships across the firm's largest and most sophisticated institutional equity clients. The role has four primary components:
• Investment Content & Idea Generation: Deliver differentiated Morgan Stanley research, market insights, and actionable investment and trade ideas tailored to clients' portfolios, strategies, and investment priorities.
• Capital Markets: Facilitate client participation in Morgan Stanley's equity capital markets activity, including IPOs, follow-ons, block offerings, and other transactions, while providing relevant market context and investor feedback.
• Firmwide Connectivity & Client Solutions: Serve as a strategic gateway to Morgan Stanley's broader platform, connecting clients with the firm's resources and capabilities, including Corporate Access, Cash Trading, Electronic/Algorithmic Trading, Derivatives, Prime Brokerage, Research, and other relevant products and expertise across the firm.
• Commercial Development & Market Intelligence: Identify and develop opportunities for Morgan Stanley by maintaining a deep understanding of clients' portfolios, investment priorities, positioning, and evolving needs. Translate client sentiment and market intelligence back to Research, Trading, Capital Markets, and other internal partners to help inform the firm's strategy, deepen client relationships, and drive revenue.

Prime Brokerage Department Profile: For more than 40 years, Morgan Stanley has led the industry and set the standard for excellence in Prime Brokerage. Our broad and deep client relationships, market leading platform and intellectual insights enable us to be a world class service provider to our clients for their financing, market access and portfolio management needs.

As part of the Institutional Equity Division, Prime Brokerage is a strategic partner to hedge funds and institutional clients across the globe. Prime Brokerage provides clients with clearing and custody services, securities lending and financing, risk analytics, consulting, introductions to potential investors, and access to world-class proprietary technology.

Prime Brokerage acts as a portal into the firm and assists clients with navigating Morgan Stanley's vast resources such as Equity Sales and Trading, Derivatives, Securities Lending, Technology and Operations

• Prime Brokerage Sales : Works with Morgan Stanley's hedge fund clients to deliver the resources of its prime brokerage platform and the broader firm. Morgan Stanley Prime Brokerage provides hedge funds with clearing, custody, and financing solutions for their portfolios, in addition to Capital Introductions and Business Consulting solutions. A Prime Brokerage salesperson's role is primarily twofold: (1) to bring in new Prime Brokerage business by pitching our offering and capabilities to prospective startup or existing hedge funds, and (2) to manage the relationship with existing hedge fund prime brokerage clients.
• Prime Brokerage Capital Introductions : Facilitates the flow of capital from a global base of institutional investors to the hedge fund clients of MS Prime Brokerage. We speak with decision makers at institutional investors (e.g., endowments, fund of funds, pensions, consultants, etc.) about their alternatives portfolios and discuss hedge funds that may be a fit as they make their investment decisions. We also work closely, and consult, with Portfolio Managers, Chief Operating Officers, and Marketing & Investor Relations professionals on hedge fund business development strategies and marketplace positioning.
• Prime Brokerage Consulting : Provides strategic consulting and support to start-up and existing hedge fund clients on the aspects of creating, operating, and optimizing their hedge fund businesses. We work with clients through all phases of their evolution - prelaunch, growth, and maturity. The PB Consulting team is often the "first call" for both start-up and existing clients that are at various stages in their lifecycle.
• Prime Brokerage Client Coverage : ThePrime Brokerage Client Coverage Co-op sits at the center of the client experience, partnering with teams across Morgan Stanley to support leading hedge funds and institutional investors. This role requires strong communication and relationship-building skills, offering the opportunity to collaborate across Client Coverage and the broader Prime Brokerage organization while supporting client service, risk monitoring, operational oversight, and strategic projects. Through this hands-on experience, the Co-op gains exposure to financial markets, Prime Brokerage products, and client relationship management while helping deliver exceptional service and innovative solutions.
• Prime Brokerage Content: Curates strategic research covering trading activity in the Hedge Fund universe, analyzing positioning and leverage across various factors, thematics, and regions to identify where Hedge Funds pose risks to equity markets. The team analyzes underlying market technicals coupled with Hedge Fund trading behavior to form broad market views to aid decision-makers in their investment process (CIOs, Portfolio Managers, Traders) by highlighting crowding risks and identifying potential sources of alpha. The team collaborates closely with various Trading / Equity Derivatives desks to form these views to deliver an all-encompassing market outlook to our clients.
• Prime Brokerage Derivatives Clearing : Manages the clearing of Futures, Options, and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Swaps at Clearing Houses globally. Derivatives Clearing services are utilized by a variety of institutional client types leveraging both speculative and hedging strategies across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, FX, and commodities. Our team works directly with clients to ensure an optimal client experience and product offering, providing clients with access to 70+ global markets in order to further enhance their portfolios.
• Prime Brokerage Finance & Analytics : The PB Finance team within the Institutional Equities Division's (IED) Prime Brokerage business delivers financial analytics, client profitability insights, treasury and liquidity management, balance sheet optimization, and business performance reporting to support growth and informed decision-making. The role partners closely with Sales, Client Coverage, Finance, Technology, and other teams to drive business initiatives, optimize the deployment of financial resources, evaluate client and product opportunities, and provide actionable insights that enhance profitability, capital efficiency, and the overall effectiveness of the Prime Brokerage platform.

Qualifications/Skills/Requirements

• Availability to work full-time, in-person from January - June 2027 from role location
• Pursuing an undergraduate degree with a graduation date after December 2027
• Minimum 3.0 GPA
• Advanced knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite
• Ability to learn and use new software applications
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the highest attention to detail
• Professional attitude and demeanor, strong work ethic
• Strong team-player and collaborator, enthusiastic, motivated
• Ability to execute quickly, multi-task and prioritize
• Quantitative, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Quick-learner; adaptable to changing business requirements
• While no prior knowledge of finance or trading is required, must have a keen interest in finance and markets

Application Process

Deadline to apply: September 20, 2026 at 11:55pm ET

As part of the application, applicants will be asked to rank the above desks in order of preference. If selected to progress, candidates will undergo desk-specific interviews. Note: applicants may be selected to interview for more than one desk.

Candidatesmustapply with their resume through the Morgan Stanley website. Resumes will be reviewed on a rolling basis and students are highly encouraged to apply as soon as they are ready. In order for a student's application to be considered complete, students must submit an application and complete a HireVue (instructions emailed upon submission of application).

Expected base pay rate(s) for the role will be $52.89 per hour at the commencement of employment. However, base pay if hired will be determined on an individualized basis and is only part of the total compensation package, which, depending on the position, may also include commission earnings, incentive compensation, discretionary bonuses, other short and long-term incentive packages, and other Morgan Stanley sponsored benefit programs.

Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workforce that is diverse in experience and background. Our recruiting efforts reflect our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion, where individuals are hired, developed, and advanced based on their skills and talents.

Our workforce reflects a broad cross-section of the global communities in which we operate, bringing a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives, and experiences.

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