Financial Services — Wealth Management & Retail Brokerage · M&A Workflow Integration / Wealth Tech · Morgan Stanley
M&A Workflow Integration / Wealth Tech Project Manager Simulation — Morgan Stanley
Migrate a segment of E*TRADE retail trading customers onto the Morgan Stanley wealth platform — trade execution, statements, tax documents, and account servicing — inside a $2M, 16-week slice of the multi-year acquisition integration. The legacy E*TRADE team built what you're being asked to retire, and FINRA is watching how you move customer accounts. Gain hands-on project management experience over 27 days of real decisions, stakeholders, and PMO deliverables — no prior experience required.
The scenario
Morgan Stanley acquired E*TRADE in 2020 to add a self-directed retail brokerage to its wealth-management franchise. Three years in, the multi-year integration is consolidating duplicate platforms. Your workstream migrates one customer segment — roughly 180,000 self-directed retail accounts — off E*TRADE's legacy trading stack and onto the Morgan Stanley wealth platform, covering trade execution, account statements, tax-document delivery, and account servicing. It is a $2M, 16-week project inside a far larger program. On paper it is a data-and-workflow migration. In practice it is a test of whether the acquirer can absorb the acquired without losing the customers — or the people — that made E*TRADE worth buying. The legacy integration team includes E*TRADE engineers who built the very workflows you are being asked to retire, and they know things about active-trader behavior that no architecture diagram captures. Every customer account you move is governed by FINRA and SEC rules on account transfers, books-and-records retention, and best-interest obligations. Move an account wrong and you do not just create a defect — you create a regulatory finding. Move a customer's workflow away from something they relied on and you do not just file a change request — you risk an attrition event the board will notice.
What you'll do as the project manager
- →Migrate the target segment of ~180,000 self-directed retail accounts onto the Morgan Stanley wealth platform within the 16-week window
- →Achieve workflow parity for trade execution, statements, tax documents, and account servicing so customers experience continuity
- →Pass FINRA and SEC compliance review for account transfer, books-and-records, and customer-notification obligations
- →Hold post-migration customer attrition for the segment below a 2% threshold
- →Retain and engage the E*TRADE legacy integration knowledge rather than alienating it
Project management skills you'll build
The challenges you'll navigate
- •Acquirer/acquired friction with the E*TRADE legacy team slows knowledge transfer
- •Legacy E*TRADE trading workflows may have no equivalent on the Morgan Stanley wealth platform
- •Customer-account migration triggers FINRA/SEC obligations that can gate the cutover
- •Active-trader customers may leave if their familiar trading experience changes
- •A fixed 16-week window leaves little room for discovery surprises
Technology & stakeholders
You'll manage 6 stakeholders, including Mike Pizzi (Head of U.S. Banks and Technology (Executive Sponsor)), Renee Toscano (VP, Integration PMO (Your Manager)), Vince Caruso (Director, Platform Engineering — E*TRADE Legacy Integration Team), and more.
What you'll walk away with
A verified, shareable record of a completed enterprise project — plus the PMO deliverables you produced along the way (charter, project plan, SteerCo deck, closure document). It's real, demonstrable project management experience you can put on your resume and speak to in interviews.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need project management experience to start?
No. This simulation is built for aspiring and practicing project managers alike — you learn by doing. You make real decisions and get feedback, with no PMP or prior PM job required.
How long does this simulation take?
It runs over 27 days, roughly 25 minutes per day, covering the full project lifecycle from initiation to closure.
What will I learn?
You practice the core of project management — stakeholder management, budget and schedule control, risk, scope, and PMO governance — in the context of m&a workflow integration / wealth tech in financial services — wealth management & retail brokerage.
Is this based on the real Morgan Stanley?
It's a realistic scenario inspired by Morgan Stanley and the Financial Services — Wealth Management & Retail Brokerage sector. Details and names are fictionalized for training — it's a simulation, not a record of any actual project.
What do I get at the end?
A verified project completion plus the PMO deliverables you produced (charter, plan, SteerCo deck, closure) — proof of hands-on experience you can show employers.
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