Institutional Securities — Compensation and benefits
Business Segments · Compensation and benefitsMorgan Stanley Institutional Securities — Compensation and benefits decreased by 14.2% to $2.08B in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric grew by 17.9%, from $1.76B to $2.08B. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Institutional Securities — Compensation and benefits shows relatively stable performance with a 1.6% CAGR. This is a positive signal — lower values indicate better performance for this metric.
Analysis
How to read this metric
An increase relative to revenue may signal rising talent costs or higher performance-based payouts, while a decrease may indicate cost-cutting or lower variable compensation due to weaker performance.
Detailed definition
The total cost of employee salaries, bonuses, stock-based compensation, and related benefits for the Institutional Secur...
Peer comparison
Highly comparable to compensation expense ratios in the investment banking sector.
ms_segment_is_compensation_and_benefitsHistorical Data
| Q2 '21 | Q3 '21 | Q4 '21 | Q1 '22 | Q2 '22 | Q3 '22 | Q4 '22 | Q1 '23 | Q2 '23 | Q3 '23 | Q4 '23 | Q1 '24 | Q2 '24 | Q3 '24 | Q4 '24 | Q1 '25 | Q2 '25 | Q3 '25 | Q4 '25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $2.43B | $2.25B | $1.37B | $2.60B | $2.05B | $1.95B | $1.64B | $2.37B | $2.22B | $2.06B | $1.73B | $2.34B | $2.29B | $2.27B | $1.76B | $2.85B | $2.43B | $2.42B | $2.08B |
| QoQ Change | — | -7.6% | -39.1% | +90.1% | -21.3% | -5.0% | -15.6% | +43.9% | -6.3% | -7.1% | -15.8% | +35.3% | -2.2% | -0.9% | -22.3% | +61.8% | -14.9% | -0.3% | -14.2% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | -15.7% | -13.3% | +20.0% | -9.2% | +8.0% | +5.6% | +5.4% | -0.9% | +3.4% | +10.4% | +1.8% | +21.8% | +6.1% | +6.6% | +17.9% |
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Morgan Stanley's institutional securities — compensation and benefits?
- Morgan Stanley (MS) reported institutional securities — compensation and benefits of $2.08B in Q4 2025.
- How has Morgan Stanley's institutional securities — compensation and benefits changed year-over-year?
- Morgan Stanley's institutional securities — compensation and benefits increased by 17.9% year-over-year, from $1.76B to $2.08B.
- What is the long-term trend for Morgan Stanley's institutional securities — compensation and benefits?
- Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Morgan Stanley's institutional securities — compensation and benefits has grown at a 1.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $9.17B to $9.79B.
- What does institutional securities — compensation and benefits mean?
- The total cost of paying and providing benefits to the employees of the Institutional Securities segment.