A group of shareholders and former executives of Morgan Stanley have made public a letter, which was sent earlier this month to the company’s Board of Directors, expressing concerns about a “failure of leadership” they feel has led to the financial services firm’s recent underperformance.

The dissident group is opposed to a management restructuring approved by Morgan Stanley’s Board of Directors, who did not respond to their letter, that they fear may result in the loss of some of Morgan Stanley’s top executives.

“This ‘restructuring’ is not responsive to the concerns expressed in our letter and, we believe, is not in the best interest of Morgan Stanley’s shareholders,” the group said in a statement released today.

The letter, dated March 3, criticizes the board for a total return that has trailed the S&P Diversified Financial Index by nearly 40% – “a stunning vote of no confidence for a company that has historically been a market leader.”

The group cites an article published in the International Herald Tribune on February 9, that found Morgan Stanley’s stock had fallen 27% over the past four years, compared with a 4% gain for Goldman Sachs, an 18% gain for Lehman Brothers and an 11% decline for Merrill Lunch.

“We believe that the overriding cause of the firm’s poor performance is a failure of leadership by Philip Purcell as the firm’s CEO,” states the letter, which is signed by Anson Beard, Jr., Lewis Bernard, Richard Debs, Joseph Fogg, S. Parker Gilbert, Robert Scott, Frederick Whittemore and John H. T. Wilson.

“We are deeply concerned that there is a crisis of confidence in the firm’s leadership and governance not only in the market, but also, we fear, among employees of the firm,” states the letter. “We believe that the loss of morale caused by these factors puts Morgan Stanley at great risk of losing more key professionals which would adversely impact the firm’s ability to serve its clients and to attract the staff necessary to carry on its businesses.”