Lawrence Burns at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management says the need for excellence in performance measurement and client reporting is needed now more than ever.
(The need for excellence in performance measurement and client reporting has never gone away and is needed now more than ever, says Lawrence Burns, executive director, head of investment performance reporting operations at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Burns adds that the industry is at a turning point where “real time calculation integrity, resilient controls, and intelligent exception handling are no longer ‘nice to haves.’” By sharing Morgan Stanley’s experiences past PMCR events Burns says that he contributed “in a meaningful way” to the broader conversation on elevating operational excellence. For PMCR, Burns is participating in the following sessions: “Leveraging Real-Time Performance Monitoring & Quality Control,” as a panelist, and “When Performance Breaks: Mastering Complex Scenarios and Calculation Challenges,” as the moderator.)
Professional Background / Expertise
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your role and what your day‑to‑day looks like at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management?
A: As an executive director in wealth management operations, I oversee the performance measurement, analytics, and calculation infrastructure that supports our advisory and investment platforms. My day typically balances three themes: ensuring accuracy and timeliness of performance data, partnering with technology and business teams on system enhancements and new product offerings, and troubleshooting escalations and questions from my teams. My calendar is usually packed.
Q: What’s a recent project or initiative your team has worked on that made the biggest impact?
A: Over the past few years, throughout all operations we’ve been working through a transformation initiative. This initiative has not only saved countless hours manual processing but changed everyone’s mindset when it came to their daily work. The initiative has reenergized and given my teams the tools needed for continuous improvement.
Q: What is your dream project?
A: My dream project would be building a unified performance platform that seamlessly integrates intraday market data, client‑level analytics, predictive monitoring, and automated issue detection into a single intelligent engine.
In other words: a system that not only reports performance but anticipates where issues might emerge before they even happen.
Session Insights
Q: What inspired you to participate in PMCR 2026 and speak on these topics?
A: Performance measurement has never been more important — or more complex — than it is today.
I joined PMCR 2026 because the industry is at a turning point where real‑time calculation integrity, resilient controls, and intelligent exception handling are no longer “nice‑to‑haves.” Sharing our experiences at Morgan Stanley felt like a meaningful way to contribute to the broader conversation on elevating operational excellence.
Q: Why are these sessions especially relevant today?
A: “Real‑Time Performance Monitoring” and “When Performance Breaks” reflect the new reality of investment operations: faster markets, more complex products, and rising client expectations.
Firms can no longer rely on end‑of‑day controls or manual checks. The ability to diagnose issues in motion, maintain transparency, and support advisors with accurate information is becoming a competitive differentiator.
Industry Challenges & Trends
Q: What’s one of the biggest challenges your team or clients are facing, and how are you addressing it?
A: One major challenge is the increasing complexity of portfolios—alternatives, structured products, and multi‑currency strategies all introduce calculation nuances. Our approach has been to invest in deeper automated controls, build smarter troubleshooting tools, and create stronger connectivity between operations and technology so we can resolve issues swiftly and systematically.
Q: How do you foresee technology reshaping your area over the next 1–2 years?
A: A.I. and automation will fundamentally change how we detect anomalies, reconcile exceptions, and validate performance. We expect analytics engines to become far more predictive, allowing teams to focus on higher‑order problem‑solving rather than manual investigation. Data lineage and transparency will also become more important as regulators and clients demand clearer insight into how results are produced.
Q: Which technology has impressed you, and which has disappointed you?
A: I have been most impressed by advancements in machine learning and anomaly detection—they are rapidly becoming practical tools rather than theoretical concepts. The technology that has disappointed me most is overly rigid legacy systems that struggle to adapt to modern data needs. The gap between flexible, cloud‑native tooling and older on‑premise systems is still too wide.
The PMCR Experience
Q: What are you most excited about learning at PMCR?
A: I am excited to hear how peers across the industry are tackling real‑time oversight, scaling controls, and addressing new calculation challenges that come with fast‑changing products and markets. Conferences like PMCR offer a rare window into how others are solving similar problems from different angles.
Q: What do you hope attendees walk away with after hearing your session?
A: I hope attendees leave with a practical playbook for diagnosing performance issues and building resilient monitoring frameworks. More importantly, I want them to feel confident that—even in complex environments—there are proven, scalable ways to strengthen accuracy and transparency in their performance ecosystems.
Getting to Know You
Q: What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?
A: People are often surprised to learn that my family was in a pilot for a tv show. It was a reality show called Multiple Mayhem. It focused on four families with triplets. Our boys were around 2 years old at the time; they are nineteen now and we even added a daughter to family since. It never aired but it was a fun experience to see how “reality tv” is made.
Q: What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received (or would share)?
A: The best advice I’ve received is: “Complexity is unavoidable, confusion is optional.” No matter how technical or fast‑moving the environment, clarity—of thought, communication, and execution—is one of the most valuable leadership tools.