Morgan Stanley is laying off several hundred in wealth management unit

Morgan Stanley plans to cut several hundred jobs in its wealth management division as new Chief Executive Ted Pick seeks to rein in costs in an area that is critical to the Wall Street firm's success but has shown signs of weakening lately.

- AnnaMaria Andriotis

The cuts, which include a small number of managing directors as well as non-customer-facing employees, are expected to hit less than 1% of the wealth unit's employees, which number less than 40,000 in total.

Affected employees are expected to be notified as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter.

The layoffs represent one of the first major moves under Pick, who took over as CEO from longtime Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman on Jan. 1.

Wealth management has become a driver of revenue and profit at Morgan Stanley a following string of big acquisitions.