Morgan Stanley launched a new digital platform aimed at the most active traders. It is called Power E*Trade Pro and is currently in pilot phase. Its full launch is scheduled for June. The announcement appears on the E*Trade website, where a video explains some of its functionalities.
“Our sophisticated trader group is very important to us,” said Jed Finn, Head of Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley, to Bloomberg news agency. Finn explained that the firm asked the most sophisticated active traders in the industry what they needed “to take your game to the next level.”
The new E*Trade platform will allow traders to customize up to 120 tools across six screens in a desktop application separate from the company’s current web and mobile products. On the website, it is announced that it will have “near-unlimited customization and multi-monitor support,” as well as “advanced charting and technical analysis,” with over 145 technical studies and drawing tools. It will also include “simplified tools such as customizable options chains, and the ability to track and trade futures.”
The launch coincides with the high volatility currently affecting financial markets due to Donald Trump’s tariff policy, which unleashed a trade war but in turn drove up trading volumes on brokerage platforms. At E*Trade, April 4 and 7 were the two highest-volume days in over three years, according to Finn. The tariffs were announced by the U.S. President on April 2, called by Trump “Liberation Day.”
In October 2020, Morgan Stanley completed the acquisition of E*Trade for 13 billion dollars, marking the largest acquisition by a major U.S. bank since the 2008 financial crisis. This move significantly expanded Morgan Stanley‘s wealth management capabilities, adding more than 5 million retail client accounts and approximately 360 billion dollars in assets.
With this new platform, Morgan Stanley will compete directly with Thinkorswim, from Charles Schwab, and Legend, from Robinhood Markets.
For Guadalupe Barriviera