Following the resignation of Morgan Stanley co-president Greg Fleming, the Wall Street bank's new investment management chief Dan Simkowitz looks set to drop a target laid down by Fleming two years ago for the division's assets to hit $500 billion this year.

In February 2014, Fleming, then president of asset and wealth management, told a conference that Morgan Stanley Investment Management would raise its assets to $500 billion by 2016. This compared to $377 billion at the end of 2013.