theceomagazine.com | 13Wei Sun Christianson first joined Morgan Stanley 10 years
ago in the firm’s investment division. Today, she is the CEO,
and under her leadership the company has broadened its
onshore footprint to include services such as underwriting,
commercial banking, asset management, trust services and
private equity investment.
Supporting women into, and in, senior management
positions is of paramount importance to Wei Sun, who told
the 3rd Women in Leadership Forum in Beijing last year that
women need “to have a dream or plan to succeed”. She
added: “You need to have passion to fuel your dream. And
then, you need the skill set.”
According to Wei Sun, Morgan Stanley has been at the
forefront of China’s capital markets since the early 1990s and
it has a lot to be proud of. The company led the first deal
to be marketed outside of China in 1991, even before the
stock exchanges existed. In 1992, it completed the first
Yankee bond for a Chinese issuer.
“It’s challenging to build a franchise like Morgan Stanley
in a new cultural environment. We first had to build the
framework – a core team to be the culture carriers for
the firm,” Wei admits. “We have deliberately put people
in place who aren’t always Asian or Chinese. The China
management team includes people who have been with
the firm a long time. They are important role models for
younger and newer employees.” »
“ You need to ha ve passion
to fuel your dream.”
- Wei Sun Christianson, Co-CEO of Morgan Stanley
Asia–Pacific, and CEO of Morgan Stanley China
Cover story | INSPIRE