Wells Fargo (WFC) said Monday that it hired seven advisors this month from UBS (UBS) and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS) with close to $730 million in total assets and $5.8 million in yearly fees and commissions. One UBS advisor moving over to Wells is joining FiNet, an independent channel.
On Jan. 17, Wells said it had about 15,260 financial advisors at the end of 2011. There are about 1,050 FAs in FiNet, which added 152 financial advisors last year, the company says.
Earlier this month Matthew Montini of San Jose, Calif., came over to FiNet from UBS. His practice, FIG Capital, has about $220 million in assets under management and some $1.1 million in trailing-12-month products (or fees and commissions). Montini is a 28-year industry veteran.
Recently, Tiburon Strategic Advisors issued a report that speculated the wirehouse firms would move more aggressively into the independent channel, which only Wells is active in at present.
