Morgan Stanley drops crypto fund restrictions for wealth clients

Morgan Stanley on Friday told its financial advisors that the firm was broadening access to crypto investments to all clients and allowing such investments in any type of account, including retirement accounts, CNBC has learned.

Starting Oct. 15, advisors will be able to pitch crypto funds to any client. Previously, the option was limited to those with an aggressive risk tolerance and at least $1.5 million in assets who wanted crypto in a taxable brokerage account.  

The move marks the latest expansion of access to crypto at the world’s largest wealth management firm after the U.S. government’s stance toward the nascent asset class flipped with the election of President Donald Trump. Last month, Morgan Stanley said it would soon enable trading of bitcoin, ether and solana at its E-Trade subsidiary.

Over the past two decades, Morgan Stanley has become an industry juggernaut, amassing $8.2 trillion in client assets across its wealth and investment management operations. In recent years, the bank has repeatedly shown it is keen to defend its position amid the rise of platforms including Coinbase and Robinhood.

As Morgan Stanley drops its eligibility requirements for crypto funds, it will rely on an automated monitoring process to make sure that clients aren’t overly concentrated in the volatile asset class, said people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified speaking about internal policy.

The bank’s global investment committee recently issued a model that recommended a maximum initial allocation to crypto of up to 4%, depending on goals ranging from “wealth conservation” to “opportunistic growth.”

The committee “considers cryptocurrency as a speculative and increasingly popular asset class that many investors, but not all, will seek to explore,” Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer for wealth management at the firm, said in the Oct. 1 report.

As of now, advisors are still limited to pitching bitcoin funds from BlackRock and Fidelity, but Morgan Stanley is watching the industry for possible additions to those offerings, including other types of crypto, according to the people familiar.

Clients can ask to be placed into any listed crypto exchange-traded product, they added.