Sofia Michelle Ward
My Mission Statement
MY STORY
ABOUT SOFIA MICHELLE
Sofia Michelle is a Managing Director, Family Wealth Director and International Client Advisor. She dedicates her skills to service a global clientele of uncommonly successful individuals and helps them optimize what their wealth can do for their families and their communities.
Sofia Michelle graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics and Finance from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. She has completed courses on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science at MIT and Harvard. She is fluent in Spanish and English, and conversational in Italian and French.
Born in Ecuador, Sofia Michelle has lived in Belgium and England. She currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina and works out of the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management office in New York City. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, traveling and spending time with her husband and their two children.
MEMBERSHIP
Sofia Michelle is a member of the 2023 President's Club, an elite group comprising the Firm's leading Financial Advisors. She served as President of Women in Wealth LIFT, the NY Metro Women's Business Development Council from 2020-2021. She was named to the 2020 class of MAKERS at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a recognition that celebrates women who are groundbreakers, advocates, and innovators in their given field. She served as Co-Chair of Morgan Stanley's International Wealth Management Council from 2018-2019.
AWARDS
Sofia Michelle has been ranked in the Financial Times Top 400 Advisors list in 2014-2016, Working Mother and SHOOK Research's Top Wealth Adviser Moms list in 2018-2021, and Forbes Magazine's list of America's Best-in-State Wealth Advisors in 2018 and 2021. In 2024, Sofia Michelle's team, The Diamond Lake Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley, was honored as one of Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams in New York.
WORKING WITH YOU
Your family is the reason you have strived so diligently to achieve financial success. With so much to protect, you want to ensure that your hard-earned legacy is preserved for generations to come.
As a Family Wealth Advisor and International Client Advisor, I help a global clientele of accomplished individuals and affluent families address the myriad challenges of managing significant wealth. My goal is to serve as your financial steward, helping to guide you and your family on a clear path to long-term prosperity.
I understand that your wealth encompasses not only your financial success, but also the experiences that shape your life, the activities that give you purpose and the people that bring you joy. To help preserve the many facets of your wealth, I invest significant time in learning about you—where you came from, what you value and how you envision the future. This in-depth understanding of your family's values, challenges, opportunities and aspirations becomes the framework for a customized and comprehensive wealth strategy designed to help you achieve your most important goals.
Like many of my clients, I have international roots and a global perspective. I am not only familiar with the complexities of cross-border wealth management, but also fluent in many languages and sensitive to cultural nuances. My multigenerational approach to wealth management focuses on planning for the long-term and building bridges between family members to help ensure that your wealth—and the values behind it—are passed on to your children and grandchildren.
I look forward to building a relationship with you and your family, and becoming the trusted advisor you rely on for guidance on all your important financial decisions.
My team and I look forward to hearing from you, share your story with us Michelle.Ward@morganstanley.com.
SOURCES:
2024 Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Management Team in New York
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded Jan 2024) Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based for the period from 3/31/22–3/31/23. (https://www.morganstanley.com/disclosures/awards-disclosure/)]
2014-2016 Financial Times 400 Top Financial Advisors
Source: ft.com. Data compiled by the Financial Times based the following time periods:
Awarded 2016; data 9/30/13 - 9/30/15
Awarded 2015; data 9/30/13 - 9/30/14
Awarded 2014; data 9/30/12 - 9/30/13
2018-2021 Working Mother Magazine & SHOOK Research's Top Wealth Advisor Moms
Source: Workingmother.com (Awarded October 2018-2021). Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based on 12-month period concluding in Mar of the year the award was given.
2018, 2021 Forbes Best-In- State Wealth Advisors
Source: Forbes.com (Awarded 2018, 2021.) Data compiled by SHOOK Research LLC based 12-month time period concluding in June of year prior to the issuance of the award.
- Wealth ManagementFootnote1
- Estate Planning StrategiesFootnote2
- Trust Services*
- Life InsuranceFootnote3
- AnnuitiesFootnote4
- Philanthropic Services
- Endowments and FoundationsFootnote5
- Business Succession PlanningFootnote6
- Professional Portfolio ManagementFootnote7
- Alternative InvestmentsFootnote8
- Lending Products
- Art AdvisoryFootnote9
NMLS#: 1331971
HOLISTIC WEALTH PLANNING
Holistic Wealth Planning
Morgan Stanley has developed a holistic offering to serve Family Offices and investors with north of 500 million US dollars in total net worth. The service spans across providing investment advice, administrative support and subject matter expertise across a variety of topics that are important when managing significant wealth.
- Our objective is to enhance investment management decision-making and alleviate administrative complexities so that families can better strive to meet their goals and focus on the things that matter to them.
- Our capabilities allow Morgan Stanley to act in a fiduciary capacity on the portfolio (regardless of where the investments are custodied), while delivering consolidated tax-lot level accounting and reporting across custodians through an institutional quality platform.
- We strive to complement the investor's current structure, giving them leverage through infrastructure and investment management capabilities, as well as the breadth of Morgan Stanley.
Benefits for our Clients: Investment Consulting and Portfolio Administration
- Serve as a fiduciary by advising on investments held across the entire portfolio (including those custodied outside of Morgan Stanley).
- Our construct allows us to be flexible around the client as their needs evolve over time (e.g., as the composition of their portfolio changes, as they come into a liquidity event, as they establish a framework for the next generation, etc.). We still act as a fiduciary on their entire portfolio even if they choose to have their assets held at different places. We truly become their partner in evaluating investments holistically within the context of their goals and objectives.
- We have a dedicated team responsible for sourcing new ideas, plus we can tap into Morgan Stanley's network and the other sophisticated Family Offices within our ecosystem.
- Utilizing us allows your clients to get depth and expertise in any space instantaneously; and also allows them to pivot freely as market dynamics, opportunities or priorities shift.
- Perform comprehensive due diligence on investment opportunities, as well as review existing investments.
- Diligence is performed by a team of ~65 people, which naturally becomes an extension of their Family Office.
- We vet the opportunities that the client brings to us, and our investment and operational diligence teams will perform the fulsome diligence they would if the opportunity were being brought for distribution on the MS platform.
- As investment opportunities come their way, we become the voice of reason if the investment doesn't make sense via their objectives and they have to say no to a family member/friend/acquaintance.
- We bear the risk of the investment decision-making for those investments under our diligence purview.
- Keeping track of growing portfolios continues to become more difficult over time. MSFS allows clients to track every cent in one place, so they have one consistent and consolidated view. Regardless of the type of asset or where the asset is held (doesn't need to be @ MS), MSFS can reflect the asset in the books and records.
- With this MSFS infrastructure in place, our investment team has the transparency that will allow us to bring clients our most robust investment management capabilities. When we can see the entire portfolio alongside the family, we can think about things holistically and make better, smarter, faster decisions.
- There are many differentiators of MSFS vs. other third party platforms that clients may consider to help aggregate their assets, but the most important ones are the richness and accuracy of the data and service model. The core of the MSFS offering is a full service accounting platform, with dedicated accountants serving each of our clients, enabled by proprietary technology. We provide the client with tax-lot level books and records down to the transaction level, and produce working papers for tax purposes. Other common providers are not true accounting systems. We do not just take downstream custodial feeds and play them back on a reporting tool – we reconcile those feeds to the upstream data directly from the executing broker dealer daily. Upon the basis of accurate and verified data, we offer industry-leading analytics tools, reporting and cash management functions.
Benefits for Clients: Our Specialized Subject Matter Experts
- Tax, Trust & Estate: Holistic analysis of tax, trust and estate solutions to help preserve wealth.
- Family Governance: Family-focused offering to help address family dynamics and other human capital challenges.
- Philanthropy: Suite of services to help define and execute on charitable missions.
- Wealth Education: Programs to help build financial knowledge.
- Signature Access Lifestyle Advisory: Access to a referral network that can offer an array of specialty services (e.g., private jet advisory).
- Insured Solutions: Comprehensive insurance offering across providers and products.
- Tailored Lending: Cash management and borrowing.
- Easily accessible subject matter experts who can address the complex, multifaceted challenges of managing significant wealth and help equip them with best practices and executable solutions.
Our Firm's History
Our Future
Client Service Team
With over 30 years in the industry and multiple years of experience as part of the management team, Karen pivoted her career to Trading and Client Service.
She enjoys working with clients to effectively and efficiently manage their needs and ensure exceptional service.
Karen currently resides in Westchester, NY, and enjoys officiating at swim meets, traveling and walking. She holds series 7 and 63 licenses.
Location
Your 2023 Guide to Holiday Giving
Portfolio Insights
Investing
- Asset Management
- Wealth Planning
- Traditional Investments
- Alternative Investments
- Impact Investing
Family
- Estate Planning Strategies
- 529 Plans / Education Savings Planning
- Long Term Care Insurance
- Special Needs Planning
- Trust Services
Business Planning
- Succession Planning
- Business Planning
- Qualified Retirement Plans
Philanthropy
- Endowments
- Foundations
- Donor Advised Funds
- Impact Investing
For more information, please see the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Client Relationship Summary.
2Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning and other legal matters.
3Insurance products are offered in conjunction with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC’s licensed insurance agency affiliates.
4Annuities are offered in conjunction with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC’s licensed insurance agency affiliates.
5Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning, charitable giving, philanthropic planning and other legal matters.
6Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for legal matters.
7Morgan Stanley’s investment advisory programs may require a minimum asset level and, depending on your specific investment objectives and financial position, may not be appropriate for you. Please see the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC program disclosure brochure (the “Morgan Stanley ADV”) for more information in the investment advisory programs available. The Morgan Stanley ADV is available at www.morganstanley.com/ADV.
8Alternative Investments are speculative and include a high degree of risk. An investor could lose all or a substantial amount of his/her investment. Alternative investments are appropriate only for qualified, long-term investors who are willing to forgo liquidity and put capital at risk for an indefinite period of time.
9Products and services are provided by third party service providers, not Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”). Morgan Stanley may not receive a referral fee or have any input concerning such products or services. There may be additional service providers for comparative purposes. Please perform a thorough due diligence and make your own independent decision.
Morgan Stanley does not assist with buying or selling art in any way and merely provides information to clients interested learning more about the different types of art markets at a high level. Any client interested in buying or selling art should consult with their own independent art advisor.
Check the background of our Firm and Investment Professionals on FINRA's BrokerCheck*.
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Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
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Awards Disclosures
