Global Stewardship Team, Vice President, Investment Management

Company Profile:

Morgan Stanley is an industry leader in financial services, known for mobilizing capital to help governments, corporations, institutions, and individuals around the world achieve their financial goals.

At Morgan Stanley India, we support the Firm's global businesses, with critical presence across Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment management, as well as in the Firm's infrastructure functions of Technology, Operations, Finance, Risk Management, Legal and Corporate & Enterprise Services. Morgan Stanley has been rooted in India since 1993, with campuses in both Mumbai and Bengaluru. We empower our multi-faceted and talented teams to advance their careers and make a global impact on the business. For those who show passion and grit in their work, there's ample opportunity to move across the businesses.
Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunities employer. We work to provide a supportive and inclusive environment where all individuals can maximise their full potential. Our skilled and creative workforce is comprised of individuals drawn from a broad cross section of the global communities in which we operate and who reflect a variety of backgrounds, talents, perspectives and experiences. Our strong commitment to a culture of inclusion is evident through our constant focus on recruiting, developing and advancing individuals based on their skills and talents.

 

This senior leadership role combines end-to-end oversight of MSIM's global proxy voting operations with responsibility for helping to build a scalable in-house proxy research capability.

The role will lead operational delivery, controls, data quality, vendor and platform management, and continuous improvement across the voting lifecycle, while partnering closely with stewardship, investment, legal, compliance, risk, operations and technology teams.

The role requires a hands-on individual who can manage day-to-day delivery, lead, coach and develop team members, exercise sound judgement on complex issues and help design the people, processes, data and technology capabilities required for the future.

1. Global Proxy Voting Operations

•  Lead the end-to-end global proxy voting operating model, ensuring timely, accurate and controlled ballot receipt, meeting and agenda processing, vote instruction, transmission, confirmation, reconciliation, record-keeping and reporting.

•  Direct day-to-day delivery across the proxy operations team, including peak-season capacity planning, workload allocation, quality assurance, issue resolution, training and performance support.

•  Act as the senior escalation point for operational exceptions, including missing or rejected ballots, record-date and position breaks, split-vote requirements, share-blocking and power-of-attorney markets, late instructions and platform outages.

•  Partner with portfolio managers, stewardship colleagues, legal, compliance and risk teams to manage conflicts, sensitive or complex votes and market-specific requirements, ensuring decisions and escalations are appropriately documented.

•  Own the operational control framework, including procedures, service-level standards, key risk and performance indicators, reconciliations, exception reporting, audit trails, business continuity and support for internal or external reviews.

•  Manage relationships with custodians, sub-custodians, voting agents and data providers; oversee service reviews, platform configurations, testing, issue remediation, contractual obligations and vendor performance.

•  Lead process improvement and automation initiatives, translating business requirements into scalable workflows and partnering with technology and data teams through design, testing, implementation and post-launch review.

2. In-House Proxy Research & Capability Build-Out

•  Co-develop and execute the multi-year strategy to increase MSIM's proprietary proxy research capability and reduce reliance on third-party research, in line with agreed milestones, governance and risk controls.

•  Help define the target research operating model, including market coverage, analyst responsibilities, research standards, policy mapping, quality-review processes, decision documentation and knowledge management.

•  Develop factual, policy-based analytical frameworks and research outputs that support independent voting decisions and consistent application of MSIM's proxy voting policies across markets.

•  Assess, select and integrate relevant governance data, issuer disclosures, voting history, analytics and technology tools, including appropriately controlled use of automation, natural-language processing and generative AI.

•  Maintain a robust voting history and rationale repository to support institutional memory, consistency, management information, client reporting and future analytics.

Essential Qualifications:

•  10+ years of relevant experience in proxy voting operations, investment stewardship, corporate governance, securities operations or a closely related function within an asset manager, pension fund, custodian, voting service provider or proxy advisory firm.

•  Demonstrated experience leading a complex operational function or material change programme, with accountability for delivery, controls, risk management and senior stakeholder engagement.

•  Deep understanding of the institutional proxy voting lifecycle, global custody chain, market practices and leading voting platforms such as ProxyExchange, ProxyEdge or equivalent systems.

•  Strong knowledge of operational controls, data governance, data quality, exception management and the translation of complex business requirements into scalable processes and technology solutions.

•  Sound understanding of corporate governance and the ability to interpret and apply voting policies across different markets, ownership structures and agenda types.

•  Proven people leadership and communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders, make decisions under tight deadlines and explain complex issues clearly.

•  Undergraduate degree in Finance, Economics, Law, Business, Accounting or a related discipline from a recognised institution.

Preferred Qualifications:

•  Direct experience of governance and proxy voting in India and broader Asia-Pacific markets, together with exposure to the US, UK or Continental Europe.

•  Experience building an in-house research capability, transitioning between voting or research providers, or implementing a new stewardship operating model.

•  Familiarity with governance and market-data platforms, research databases, workflow tools and analytics or visualisation technologies.

•  Knowledge of proxy solicitation, activist campaigns, contested director elections, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation or shareholder proposals.

•  Relevant postgraduate or professional qualification, such as an MBA, CFA, CA, CS.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MORGAN STANLEY:

At Morgan Stanley, we raise, manage and allocate capital for our clients – helping them reach their goals. We do it in a way that’s differentiated – and we’ve done that for 90 years.  Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices​ into your browser.

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.

For more information, please visit: https://www.morganstanley.com/people-opportunities/eeo.