NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley chose Ted Pick to succeed its longtime leader James Gorman as CEO, effective Jan. 1.

Here are five key facts about Pick, who was seen as the front runner before the announcement on Wednesday:

1) Pick has been co-president of Morgan Stanley for the past two years. As head of the institutional securities group, he oversaw investment banking, equities, fixed income, capital markets and research. He was also co-head of the firm's strategy.

2) Pick was appointed global head of sales and trading in 2015 and was credited with engineering a turnaround of the bank's fixed income division.

3) Pick also ran equity capital markets. During the financial crisis of 2008, he helped the bank raise capital as it faced potential collapse.

4) After joining Morgan Stanley in 1990, Pick was promoted to managing director in 2002 and joined the management committee in 2008. In 2012, he was elevated to the operating committee which comprises the bank's most senior leaders.

5) Pick graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Middlebury College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a Trustee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

(Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York; editing by Lananh Nguyen and Sonali Paul)