A key Legg Mason [profile] distribution executive recently took a job at Morgan Stanley [profile], and another Legg exec rose to take his place, at least for now.

Jeff Masom Legg Mason Managing Director, Co-Head of US Sales

John Cooper, formerly head of retail national accounts at Legg, now serves as head of intermediary distribution for North America for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman confirms. Mark Lavan, director and national account manager at Legg, now serves as interim head of retail national accounts, reporting to Jeff Masom, managing director and co-head of U.S. sales.

"We will finalize a National Accounts structure later this year, but we think Mark is a great leader and will do a great job," Mary Athridge, a spokeswoman for Legg, tells MFWire. "We are confident that Mark will continue this success as a player/coach for the team, focusing on early priorities around new regulation, ETFs and other key initiatives, and reinforcing our home office alignments with our partners in Retail Sales, affiliates, and across the broader organization."

Cooper fills a newly-created role at Morgan Stanley. Last summer word leaked that Paul Price, global head of distribution for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, was on the hunt for an intermediary distribution chief for North America.

Levan, an alumnus of the University of Rhode Island and of Fordham, first joined Legg in 2012. Prior to that he worked with Merrill Lynch, Lord Abbett, and TD.

Cooper, an alumnus of Boston College, first joined Legg in 2015. He previously led U.S. sales at Invesco, and he also worked at AT&T and Putnam. 

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