UBS Private Wealth Management has added a 17-member team with $10.8 billion in assets under management from Merrill Lynch, where it produced about $16.7 million in yearly fees and commissions.
The group, which does business as Wickham Cash Partners, joined UBS in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team will report to Julie Fox, market head of Northeast Private Wealth Management, and Brendan Graham, a branch manager for the division.
Merrill Lynch declined to comment on the loss of the 17-member team. But a source close to the firm told ThinkAdvisor: "Supporting RIAs is not a part of Merrill's strategy, and money manager services was not a part of the firm's core wealth management offering."
These services entail custody and clearing for the retail clients of family offices and money management firms, which Wickham Cash's operations appear to involve and that Merrill is reportedly phasing out. UBS declined to comment on the matter.