NEW YORK – Morgan Stanley said Thursday it is poaching brokers from Merrill Lynch & Co Inc and other rivals, accelerating the expansion of its global wealth management business during a period of turbulence on Wall Street.

Morgan Stanley spokesman Jim Wiggins declined to comment on a CNBC report that said the firm was targeting Merrill, which is struggling with growing credit losses, or any other firm.

“We've made no bones about the fact we are actively recruiting financial advisers,” said Wiggins, who declined to elaborate further on personnel matters.

A spokeswoman for Merrill declined to comment.

Morgan's wealth management business has recovered under James Gorman, Merrill's former brokerage chief who joined Morgan Stanley in 2006. In recent public appearances, Gorman, now a co-president, has told analysts he would expand the business depending on market conditions.

Broadly speaking, the recruiting effort and the relative stability at Morgan Stanley has helped the company lure more brokers than it has lost to rivals.

Morgan said it has added a net 250 recruits so far this year, exceeding the net of 232 for all of 2007 and a net loss of 380 advisers to rivals in 2006.

Morgan Stanley ended May with 8,350 brokers, down from 8,429 at the end of November 2007. The drop reflected Morgan's sale of its Spanish brokerage, which had 233 advisers.

(Editing by Braden Reddall/Jeffrey Benkoe)