Morgan Stanley Banker Says Australia Is Safe Haven to China Woes

(Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley’s Australia chief Richard Wagner said the country is benefiting from an increase in capital flows that cements its ability to cushion investment risk during a period of global turbulence.

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“It’s very, very hard to lose money in Australia and therefore that safe haven has been an attraction of capital, particularly in the last 12 months as we’ve seen such extended volatility in China,” Wagner said in a Bloomberg TV interview Wednesday. “Most of the global money that’s been pointed at Asia Pacific has been reweighted away from China. And the beneficiaries of that have been Australia, Japan, and India.”

Deal activity in Australia is improving month by month, Wagner said, with the bank expecting a pick up in activity as investors get more clarity on the trajectory of global interest rates and the US presidential election.

“The rabbit hasn’t jumped out of the hat quite yet, but every month gets better,” he said, speaking to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Morgan Stanley Australia Summit in Sydney. That follows a “couple of tough years in investment banking,” he added.

Morgan Stanley Chief Executive Officer Ted Pick, who took over from Australian-born James Gorman at the start of this year, has pledged to keep meeting the firm’s goals in the wealth business while unlocking additional gains in investment banking. In Australia, Morgan Stanley has nabbed a lead manager role on the initial public offering of Mexican food chain Guzman y Gomez, the first large IPO in years, while advising troubled real-estate developer Lendlease Group on its breakup plans.

Adding to Australia’s relative strength is an economy that Wagner — like Treasurer Jim Chalmers — is betting will not enter a recession, in part due to the windfall from the country’s resources export base and historically low unemployment.

--With assistance from Andy Clarke.

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