David Greenleigh and Brian Luts joined Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, known as FiNet, in Bethesda, Md., on Sept. 25. Both join from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, previously named Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where they had $250 million in client assets under management and $1.5 million in commissions and fees, a Wells Fargo spokesperson confirmed.
Greenleigh and Luts had been with Morgan Stanley since 2009, and spent five years at predecessor firm Citigroup Global Markets, according to their public registration records with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Both advisors also previously worked at Wachovia Securities for less than one year, and Prudential Securities for six years.
Wells Fargo's independent brokerage arm offers a unique opportunity for financial advisors who want to operate on their own, but still access the platforms and transition packages offered by wirehouse firms, said recruiter Peter Pappas of New York-based Victoria Kris Inc.
"This is an alternative for a lot of financial advisors," Pappas said. "You are going to be seeing [these moves] more and more over the next couple of months."
Wells Fargo expanded with the hiring of three advisory practices to its independent brokerage business in California and Utah earlier this month, ushering advisors previously managing $673 million in client assets under management. All three of those teams came from wirehouse firms, including two from Morgan Stanley and one from UBS.
