Morgan Stanley Announces Technology Partnership with Yext to Enhance Financial Advisors’ Digital Presence and Increase Prospecting Success Through Intelligent Search

Morgan Stanley today announced a new technology partnership with Yext to provide Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors with a cutting edge technology platform for the creation and management of their business websites and digital presence. Morgan Stanley will also leverage Yext’s intelligent search capabilities to enhance prospecting success.

Yext is a leader in digital knowledge management for business. Their artificial-intelligence-ready data structure will enable Morgan Stanley to create and relate important information about their vast network of individual Financial Advisors, advisory teams and branches. This smart data structure will be used to power over 15,000 Financial Advisors websites, maximizing their visibility in search, integrating with CRM, event management and other capabilities, and facilitating conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) via voice assistants and chatbots, in order to provide direct, accurate answers about Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors for an excellent customer experience.

“A sophisticated digital presence is an absolutely critical component of a potential clients’ shopping process,” said Naureen Hassan, Chief Digital Officer for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “In fact, 62%* of respondents to a recent survey said that online information is influential to who they hire as a Financial Advisor.”

By maintaining current page design on the front end and using the Yext Knowledge Engine for our backend website management technology, Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors will now be able to quickly and seamlessly engage with clients and prospects in the moments that matter.

“AI-powered services have transformed the way people search for financial services, making it vital for Financial Advisors to provide direct answers everywhere consumers are looking,” said Howard Lerman, Founder and CEO of Yext. “We’re proud to put Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors in control of the facts about them online, so that they can easily help provide accurate answers to complex consumer questions and win more business.”

Morgan Stanley is defining the future of wealth management by setting a new standard for delivering client excellence: a unique combination of human capital, cutting-edge technology, leading intellectual capital and customized financial solutions. All delivered by a Financial Advisor to help clients achieve their life goals. In support of its strategy, Morgan Stanley also has Fintech partnerships with BlackRock/Aladdin, Hearsay, Investnet, Salesforce, Solium, Twilio, and Yodlee among others.

*Source: WisdomTree/Morgan Stanley: Wealth Management Research Study, August 2018.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a global leader, provides access to a wide range of products and services to individuals, businesses and institutions, including brokerage and investment advisory services, financial and wealth planning, cash management and lending products and services, annuities and insurance, retirement and trust services.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

About Yext

Yext (NYSE:YEXT) is the leading Digital Knowledge Management (DKM) platform. Yext’s mission is to give companies control over their brand experiences across the digital universe of maps, apps, search engines, voice assistants, and other intelligent services that drive consumer discovery, decision, and action. Today, thousands of businesses including brands like Taco Bell, Rite Aid, and Steward Health Care use the Yext Knowledge Engine™ to manage their digital knowledge in order to boost brand engagement, drive foot traffic, and increase sales.

Yext has been named a Best Place to Work by Fortune and Great Place to Work® as well as a Best Workplace for Women. Yext is headquartered in New York City with offices in Berlin, Chicago, Dallas, Geneva, London, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Tokyo, and the Washington, D.C., area. For more information, visit www.yext.com.

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Susan Siering, 212-761-6030
Christy Jockle, 914-225-6827