Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BAC) said Friday it recruited a team from UBS (UBS) in Palm Beach, Florida, that has some $500 million in assets under management and does about $3.1 million in yearly fees and commissions.
The group includes four advisors focused on ultra-high-net-worth investors and corporate executives: Robert "Bobby" J. Debbs; Frederick J. Shapiro, CFP; Steven F. Colamarino, chartered retirement plan specialist; and Albert "Jiggs" David Hutzler III, CFP. It now reports to complex director James Chahine.
"Merrill Lynch is pleased to have this experienced team of wealth management advisors join our organization," Chahine said in a statement. "Bobby has clearly demonstrated success in the marketplace based on his high level of personal service to clients, ability to lead clients through successful liquidity events and investment results."
Debbs has been with UBS since 2005. Prior to his work as an advisor, he worked for Source Capital Group in investment banking and as an entrepreneur and consultant.
According to his FINRA records, Debbs settled a client dispute in 2010 for about $50,000 related to sales of Lehman Brothers Return Optimization Securities. (He was also part of a companywide settlement tied to auction-rate securities sales.)
Shapiro got into the financial-services industry in 1997. His FINRA records show that a 2013 client complaint was expunged in 2014, and a settlement in 2000 of about $10,600 (associated with IPO shares of Nanogen) was reached by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter with the advisor denying any wrongdoing or involvement in the matter's resolution.
