Morgan Stanley hires healthcare services banker Cohen from Truist

By David Carnevali and Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley has hired veteran investment banker Daniel Cohen from Truist Financial Corp, where he was the head of the firm’s healthcare services advisory business, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

In his new role, Cohen will continue to focus on dealmaking in the pharmaceutical services sector, the person said, requesting anonymity because the move is not yet public.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment. A Truist spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Cohen did not immediately reply to a message sent via LinkedIn.

Cohen’s hire comes after veteran pharmaceutical industry bankers Arek Kurkciyan and Dennis Crandall left Morgan Stanley last year to join Moelis & Co.

Cohen spent just over one year at Truist, where he served as the head of pharmaceutical services investment banking and healthcare sponsor coverage, before being elevated as the head of the healthcare services unit, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Earlier, he served as global head of healthcare services investment banking at RBC Capital Markets, his profile shows, with prior investment banking roles at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cohen took a break from investment banking in 2010, when he joined life sciences firm Catalent Inc in a business development role, his LinkedIn says.

Morgan Stanley’s global M&A franchise is currently led by John Collins, who previously served as global head of healthcare investment banking at the bank.

In the Americas, sole leadership of Morgan Stanley’s M&A franchise is being passed on to Tom Miles, who co-headed the business with Brian Healy. Healy announced plans to retire in August, according to an internal memo sent to employees in June.

(Reporting by David Carnevali and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York; Editing by Emma Rumney)