Morgan Stanley India appoints new co-heads

Morgan Stanley has announced that Riddham Desai and Sanjay Shah will jointly head JM Morgan Stanley Securities, the firmÆs 51% owned institutional equity business in India. The post has been vacant since early January when Mihir (Mickey) Doshi left to head up and build Credit Suisse's broking business in the country after a 22 year innings with Morgan Stanley. DoshiÆs departure was one in a series of high profile resignations the firm witnessed in Asia in January.

Both Desai and Shah are MDs within Morgan Stanley India. Desai joined Morgan Stanley in Mumbai in 1997 and was most recently head of India research.

Shah joined JM Financial in 1996 and was most recently head of sales. In announcing the appointments, chairman Nimesh Kampani stresses that the two have, ôproven leadership skills and the right credentialsö and are well placed to ôbuild on the firmÆs tremendous success in India.ö

Speculation has been rife about Morgan StanleyÆs plans following Merrill Lynch's decision to buy out its joint venture partner DSP owned by Hemendra Kothari. Morgan Stanley currently owns 51% of the securities venture and 49% of the investment banking arm. India has become one of AsiaÆs hottest investment banking markets especially as global firms are eager to offer their clients setting up in the country, both corporate and on the funds management side, a comprehensive range of services.