Smith Barney recruited four advisors last week, whose trailing 12-month earnings totaled $6.02 million on assets of almost $4 billion.

Chad Evans, who has been in the business for 18 years, posted the biggest numbers among the new recruits, having earned $2.5 million on $3.6 billion of assets. He reports to Robert Martensen, who heads the firm’s Newport Beach, Calif., office.

Robert Zerden and Hamant Naran, who together earned $2.2 million on $195 million of assets under management, joined the firm’s Atlanta office. Zerden and Naran have 22 years and five years of service, respectively. They will report to manager Bill James.

Dan Waller, who generated $1.3 million by overseeing $136 million in assets, joined the firm’s Ormond Beach, Fla., office. He will report to Jeff Brak.

Although the recent haul represents significant new business for Smith Barney, it does not offset the brokerage firm’s loss of 970 brokers in the fourth quarter of 2008. For the entire year, the firm’s advisor headcount dropped by 11%, according to its fourth-quarter results.

Since Citigroup, its former parent company, sold a 51% stake in the brokerage unit to Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney has lost about 539 brokers, according to news reports.