Client Growth Resource Guide
Updated 02/26/2025
Minimum initial contribution: $25,000 (MS Employees have a 5k min)
NextGen: With a minimum $25,000 DAF for client, they can open a $5,000 minimum contribution for a child. Anyone in their lineage (Ex: grandparent can open for grant child)
Minimum additional contributions: $5,000 ($1,000 may be made to a Next Gen Account and MS Employee Accounts)
Minimum grant amount: $250
Account minimum:
UMA is $1,000. If it drops below that, they either have to move it to a different pool called Pathway Solutions or close the account and grant everything out.
PM doesn't have a minimum.
How to best describe fees to advisors: The fee that you can charge is what you normally charge for same sized accounts. Whatever your standard fee is. In addition to the investment management fee there are administrative fees that can vary depending on the size of the account, approximately 15-35bps.
Provide the fee schedule on page 15 of the circular so that they can calculate their advisory fee with the admin fees. As referenced in this doc, there are variables. A standard 25k account at MSGIFT would start around 0.37% for admin fees.
Note regarding timing of fee calculation: “There are 3 fees calculated that we roll up into one charge: Ren's fee, MS' fee, and a misc operating expense. Ren & misc are based on the month end value and MS is calculated on the average balance throughout that month” (Sydney Naselroad 1/31/24)
There are the third party (REN) administrative fees, MSSB Administrative fees and investment management fees.
Third Party Tiered Administrative Fees:
Balances up to $1,999,999 = 27bps (minimum: $100)
Next $2,000,000-$4,999,999= 20ps
Next $5,000,000-$9,000,000 = 15bps
Next $10,000,000- $24,999,999 =11bps
Third Party Flat Fee:
$50,000,000-$99,999,999 = 9bps
$100,000,000 or greater = Custom
MSSB Administrative Fee:
Each account with less than or equal to $25,000,000 will be assessed a fee of 7bps, paid to MSSB.
Administrative Expenses: Each Account is assessed a pro rata share of MS GIFT’s general operating expenses (Administrative Expenses), which include but are not limited to audit, operational, technology, legal, regulatory, and registration costs incurred by MS GIFT. The maximum annual rate of Administrative Expenses that will be charged is up to 3bps.
All of the investment accounts are held at the branch with the financial advisor.
FA will either choose Firm Discretion Select UMA or PM (portfolio management).
Firm Discretion Select UMA: are different portfolios the FA can choose from. Please refer to MSGIFT Port Solutions Client Approved PDF for more information. They are similar to the old pools in the way that you choose from established portfolios but will not mimic the pooled investments exactly (which has been confusing for some MS Teams). MS Employees can call the UMA team to ask which pooled investments are most like the options within FD UMA.
Portfolio allocation Models:
Allocation | Risk Level |
Wealth Conservation | Low volatility, preservation, conservative |
Income | Some Volatility, generates Income, A little less conservative |
Balanced Growth | Moderate Volatility, some income & some appreciation, middle risk |
Market Growth | Mod-High Volatility, gain capital appreciation & income, aggressive |
Opportunistic Growth | High volatility, gain high capital appreciation and income |
Portfolio Management (PM)Program
The Portfolio Management Group creates customized investment strategies for high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients. Portfolio Managers are a select group of Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors who are qualified by the firm to manage client assets based on training, experience and commitment to client service.
Contributions to a PM DAF account are managed on a discretionary basis by the FA. (Morgan Stanley Portfolio Manager)
Alternative Investments
While not “advertised” to FAs, AIA (alternative investment advisory) is allowed for up to 20% of investments in a DAF with a value of $1M or higher.
Morgan Stanley has given us contacts to provide to the FA’s when asked about investment options.
Investment questions
Most FAQ answered in 3D wealthdesk for advisors, but additional contacts to offer:
UMA
Private portfolio group
Questions about trading in the UMA, raising funds, selling contributions
UMA investment questions
PM
Consulting group help desk - 888-374-9999
FYI: Reallocation to Branch Access (currently happening with pooled accounts) this is in process and FA’s may have questions about this. Basically, the investment pools used to be held away from the branch and now they are closing out that option and moving them to branch level.
NOTE: as of 8/2023 we were advised that the process has stalled. Anyone making an additional contribution must decentralize first if they haven’t already, but Ren/MS isn’t pushing for existing pooled accounts to be reallocated until MS completes a software update, likely 2024.
What is Decentralization?
MS GIFT is phasing out of the Pooled UMA investments held with the Mary Deatherage Group at Morgan Stanley. These pooled investments are no longer available for new investments. Clients will need to transition to the branch if looking to make an additional contribution or change investment strategies. New accounts will be opened at the branch and existing accounts will need to follow the steps below to ensure their investments transition to their local branch.
MS GIFT Branch Account Pros
Advisor fee is more flexible and allows the advisor to charge a higher percentage
Advisor has a more detailed view of investments.
Clients can see inside the investment account at the branch (when added as a view only party)
Ren’s SLA processing time – Standard: 2 business days – Giving Season: 6 business days (see add’l year-end note in contributions section)
*Call (866) 255-9292 (NNA) for assistance with opening the account at the branch
*Takes about 15-20 min to open the account
Client fills out Donor Contribution Agreement and FA sends to Ren. Ren reviews and sends instructions to the FA regarding how to open the account at the branch (typically within 24 hours). Ren sets up their portion of the account. Ren turns around and gives form back to FA in about 24 hours.
Then the FA opens the account at the branch level.
Once the account is set up the client can go through their MS portal to get into their DAF account.
Client’s can access the MS GIFT portal by clicking on a launchpad within their MSO sign-in (Launchpad is generated when the client is added as a view only role on the account at the branch)
Once the initial contribution goes into the account then the Financial Advising team would need to take steps to ensure the funds are invested within whatever program their client elected to be invested in at MS.
The UMA program requires inception through a Morgan Stanley tool known as AUIT, the route the FA takes is just like any other route they would take at MS to get a FD UMA account invested. The UMA team is heavily involved with ensure the funds are processed and invested.
The PM account is just like any other PM account at MS, the FA does the sell/selection/investment of those funds on their own each time the account has a contribution come (along with that initial contribution)
Obstacle:
They have to follow the instructions step by step and when they skip a step or do one wrong they have to go back and redo the process, really following the instructions.
We give them every piece of information in the instructions. It is very clearly written out step by step.
If Client already has an account:
If the client hasn’t decentralized, they will have to do that first.
Client will have to complete the reallocate to branch access section on the donor agreement, FA will send that to Ren, and then Ren will the FA instructions on how to open the account at the branch.
Planning a contribution online can only be made by the FA. The only time a client can make their own contribution is when they are doing it by credit card (which is rare) and they still need the FA to plan the contribution online. **If the funds are coming from an outside institution the donor may need to initiate. FA always plans the contribution on the portal.
If it’s already an opened account when making additional contributions it should just fall into the already selected portfolios if its firm discretion UMA. For PM portfolios the FA will have to select investments in that portfolio they assembled.
Year-end note: MS Gift has the ability to allow clients to open and fund an account as late as the last day of the year and get the tax deduction, even if Ren hasn’t completed opening on our end.
Contribution statements are received as individual letters- no consolidated contribution statement is provided.
Ren’s SLA grant processing time – Standard: 10 business days – Giving Season: 15 business days
Ren’s SLA foreign grant processing time – Standard or giving season: @ 12 weeks dependent on the responsiveness of the charitable recipient
Client Approved: Recommend a Grant Tutorial: https://help.donorfirstx.com/grant
Updated Funding Procedure
Now that UMA accounts are held at the branch, the financial advising team is required to take steps to ensure we receive the funding for their client’s grants. MS GIFT does not have the authority to pull funds. Here is the current process.
PM: Grant Submitted à Grant reviewed by MS GIFT (Vetting, DD) à Action Hub Generated à Funds Raised (FA team) à Action Hub alert is sent to CRO to lift the distribution red flag on the account (FA Team) à Funds journaled to MS GIFT (FA Team) à Funds Issued to org (MS GIFT)
UMA: Grant Submitted à Grant reviewed by MS GIFT (Vetting, DD) à Action Hub Generated à Funds Raised (UMA Team) à Action Hub alert is sent to CRO to lift the distribution red flag on the account (FA Team) à Funds journaled to MS GIFT (FA Team) à Funds are issued to org (MS GIFT)
*If action is not taken on the Action Hub alert, then the financial advising team will receive remainder emails requesting the funds be sent to MS GIFT
*Accounts remaining in the pooled investments will proceed as usual, the only action required is to submit the grant online
Example Email Reminder
Hello Morgan Stanley team,
The following MS GIFT grant(s) have been approved and is awaiting funding. Once you've initiated the journal to MS GIFT, it takes 2 business days for the funds to be sent to the recipient charity. It is the responsibility of the FA to transfer cash, equal to the value of the grant(s) recommended, from the DAF Account at the branch to the MS GIFT Grant Account (MS GIFT BRANCH ACCOUNT NAME - ###-######)
NEW! Action Required for Select UMA Accounts:
Raise the Red Flag: Cash withdrawal request on the Morgan Stanley account has been submitted on your behalf, once you have confirmed cash is available (T +2 Days), send this email to your local Complex Risk Officer to temporarily suspend the disbursement flag on settlement. If necessary, please update the model selection to facilitate the request, do not terminate advisory status.
Transfer cash: from the Donor's MS GIFT DAF Account at the branch to MS GIFT Grant Account (835-017912)
Action Required for PM Accounts:
Request to Raise Funds: Ensure there is cash in the MS GIFT DAF account to cover the total amount of the grant above. Do not terminate advisory status when funding a grant.
Raise the Red Flag: On settlement, send this email to your local Complex Risk Officer to temporarily suspend the disbursement flag.
Transfer cash: from the Donor's MS GIFT DAF Account at the branch to MS GIFT Grant Account (835-017912)
ID | Recipient | Received Date | Approval Pend Date | # Days | Amount |
####### | Name of Organization | 02/23/2023 | 02/27/2023 | 1 | $20,000.00 |
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IMPORTANT: FAs are prohibited from issuing checks or wires for a grant disbursement without explicit direction to do so from MS GIFT. All grants must be issued by MS GIFT and are subject to review and approval by the MS GIFT Board of Directors. For more information, please refer to the Donor Circular and Disclosure Statement.
This is an auto generated email. If funds have been moved to MS GIFT Grant Account (835-017912) please disregard.
If you have any questions, please contact a member of the Morgan Stanley GIFT Team by email at msgift@reninc.com or by phone at (855)865-4438.