Morgan Stanley diversity disclosure — JPM axes some fees — Walmart litecoin hoax

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On the agenda today:

• The number of Black execs at Morgan Stanley's money manager remains bleak.
• JPMorgan is axing some fees for college-savings plans.
• A fake Walmart press release briefly sent litecoin soaring.

Let's get started. 

Diversity at Morgan Stanley's money manager remains bleak

The number of Black employees holding executive-level roles at Morgan Stanley Investment Management has remained unchanged since 2019, despite CEO James Gorman's commitment to diversity after George Floyd's death last year. Here's what else we learned from data the firm disclosed to an investor.

JPMorgan is dropping some fees for college-savings plans

JPMorgan is axing upfront fees from the 529 education savings plan, a popular investment account meant to help people save for college. The move is part of the bank's larger plans to set itself apart in a highly crowded wealth industry. Get the full rundown here.

Sorry, you can't use cryptocurrency at Walmart (yet)

GlobeNewswire published a press release claiming Walmart would allow shoppers to pay using cryptocurrency beginning in October — but it turned out to be fake (and caused litecoin to spike then sharply fall). So despite the retailer signalling an interest in crypto earlier this year, you still can't use litecoin to check out at Walmart.

Jason Mudrick is capitalizing on the distressed credit market

For the first 90 days of the pandemic, Jason Mudrick had his analysts work 12- to 14-hour days — including on weekends — to hunt down top distressed debt opportunities. Why they spent the first three months of the pandemic "working as hard as we've ever worked."

Understanding JPMorgan's purchase of The Infatuation

JPMorgan's purchase of restaurant-review website The Infatuation could be Wall Street's weirdest — and smartest — deal of the year. Financial firms are increasingly leaning on content and perks to woo customers, and for JPMorgan, acquiring The Infatuation is a way to increase its perks and retain customers in the process.

Investors are tracking data in the notoriously opaque private markets

Hedge funds have piled into private markets at a record pace, according to Goldman Sachs. Private market data can be a tough find, but startups like Forge Global and Cyndx, among others, believe they have found a way in. Here are some tools they're using to provide private market data to investors.

On our radar:

• According to MarketWatch, Wall Street banks are seeing an influx of applicants as they keep bumping pay.
• TransUnion is nearing a deal to acquire Neustar, an information-services company, for $3.1 billion, WSJ reports. More on that move here.
• Bloomberg reports that Zanbato has hired JPMorgan's Akrati Johari as its chief growth officer. 
• Dreaming about quitting your job to climb Mount Everest? These die-hards are doing it.
• Morgan Stanley just tapped Sheena Shah to lead its new cryptocurrency research team, according to Bloomberg. What we know so far.