Morgan Stanley Adds 9 Reps From Merrill, UBS, Wells & LPL

August 21, 2012 at 10:15 AM
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As it works through its latest series of restructuring steps, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS) says it also hiring advisors from rivals.

A recent recruiting effort netted nine advisors from UBS (UBS), Merrill Lynch (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and LPL Financial (LPLA) with about $1.2 billion in combined assets and more than $8.3 million in yearly fees and commissions, according to a spokesperson who shared the information with AdvisorOne on Monday.  

The news of these hires comes on the heels of further restructuring at MSSB, which continues to cut costs and take other measures to boost results while also fighting the challenge of departing advisors.

In July, Morgan Stanley, led by James Gorman (left) reported a 50% drop in second-quarter profits, which totaled $563 million, compared with profits of $1.19 billion a year ago. It also said that the number of MSSB advisors dropped 2% from last quarter and 6% from last year—representing a loss of about 1,050 advisors—to 16,934.

Last week, Wells Fargo Advisors said that over the summer it has added several teams and individual advisors from MSSB with about $860 million in assets under management to its traditional employee-advisor channel.

New MSSB Recruits

The latest additions to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which recently wrapped up its information technology/platform integration, include Keith Munera and John Wildemore.

The pair joined MSSB's Berwyn, Pa.-based office from UBS and now reports to branch manager Anthony Favoroso. Their combined production is more than $3 million a year and prior client assets totaled $315 million.

The Zaft McKinney Group is made up of Matthew Zaft and Connor McKinney. It recently moved to MSSB's Washington, D.C., office from Merrill Lynch. The team has total production of $1.8 million and assets of close to $219 million. It will report to complex manager Michael Maurer.

Angel Colina joined MSSB's Miami office from Wells Fargo. Colina now reports to complex manager Kevin McCarty. He has yearly fees and commissions of more than $2 million and prior assets of $240 million.

Mark Ralston moved to Morgan Stanley's office in Wichita, Kan., from LPL Financial. His new supervisor is branch manager John Dunlop. The advisor has had yearly production of $1.5 million and client assets of $143 million.

Leaving Merrill Lynch to join MSSB in Davenport, Iowa, were Christopher Agnew, Gary Hewitt and Darrell Henricksen, who now report to branch manager Nathan Stoffregen. The team's prior assets were more than $300 million.

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