Obituary: John Ruiz, Morgan Stanley Director, Dies at 53

John Ruiz, an executive director and credit analyst at Morgan Stanley, died Feb. 4 at age 53.

Mr. Ruiz joined Morgan Stanley in 2010 as a municipal credit analyst after spending nearly thirty years in the finance industry. Ruiz began his career as a banking analyst, and spent the biggest portion of his career as a credit analyst at Van Kampen Investments.

Colleagues at Morgan remembered Ruiz as a grateful and loyal friend and coworker whose focus was his family since the birth of his now eight-year-old daughter.

"He was the first person to be thankful for anything good that happened to him, his friends or his family, whether at work or in his personal life," J.R. McDermott, a managing director at Morgan Stanley, said in an email.

Mr. Ruiz contributed to Morgan Stanley's municipal division through a thorough working methodology and an attentive approach to working with others, the team said.

"He was very thoughtful and loyal," McDermott said. "He would talk to anyone and do anything to help any trader or sales person at Morgan Stanley. On credits like Jefferson County and Puerto Rico, he dug deep and got to all of the important credit aspects of our issuer base very quickly."

Ruiz's graciousness and dedication to success was a major driver of growth in the business since he joined, Pat Haskell, head of the firm's institutional muni business, said in a note last week.

"John had many notable successes over the past few years, but his biggest contribution has been to our culture," Haskell said. "He always took the time to remind people around him how lucky we all are to work at a first class organization."

Between his career at Van Kampen and Morgan Stanley, Mr. Ruiz was involved in various entrepreneurial endeavors as a consultant in Florida where he helped investors understand different land-based muni "dirt bonds."

Outside the office, Mr. Ruiz was known to take up a fishing pole or golf club on occasion.

"When he travelled on business he would bring his fishing rod and try his luck anywhere he could throw a line in the water," McDermott said.

Ruiz was a New Jersey native who grew up in Westwood and attended Rutgers University. He also lived in California and Florida, before returning to Edgewater, N.J., where he lived with his family, according to an obituary in The Bergen Record newspaper.

Mr. Ruiz is survived by his wife, Lennah, and his daughter, Daniella.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM BOND BUYER