James Gorman,  the wealth management whiz who takes over as chief executive of Morgan Stanley on 1 January, officially began putting his stamp on the firm yesterday, naming Colm Kelleher and Paul Taubman to co-head institutional securities, the firm’s biggest money making division.

Mr. Kelleher, currently Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer, will oversee sales and trading and Paul Taubman, global head of investment banking, will focus on investment banking.

Both men will jointly oversee global capital markets

Institutional securities accounted for approximately $5 billion of Morgan Stanley’s net revenue of $8.7 billion in the third quarter.

The move signaled that M. Gorman will be “hitting the ground running,” said Alois Pirker, research director for the Boston-based Aite Group.

“More changes will be coming,” Mr Pirker added.

The firm’s private wealth management unit, which caters to clients with $20 million or more in investible assets, and is headed by senior managing director Fabian Onetti, appears to be safe for now, according to industry observers.

However, speculation about further moves by Mr Gorman, the former head of global wealth management for Morgan Stanley, is expected to abound at the private wealth management unit’s Christmas part tonight at The Gates, a Manhattan nightclub.

For now, Mr Gorman is stressing continuity. Mr Kelleher and Mr Taubman were favorites of John Mack, Morgan Stanley’s current chief executive who becomes chairman in January.

“These appointments will ensure that we are leveraging our most experienced leaders in the best way possible,” Mr Gorman said in a statement.

Morgan Stanley also announced that Thomas Nides, chief administrative officer, will also become chief operating officer and Jim Rosenthal, head of technology and operations, will become chief operating officer of the newly formed Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture business with Citi, and head of corporate strategy for Morgan Stanley.