Merrill Advisors With $500M Go Indy

A former Merrill Lynch team with $500 million in client assets has launched an independent practice with Focus Financial Partners, the firm said.

Advisors Paul Squarcia and Erik Wallin have opened a new RIA, One Charles Private Wealth, in Hingham, Mass., according to Focus Financial. The firm was launched through Focus Independence, a program designed to help wirehouse advisors open independent wealth management practices, the firm says.

"One Charles Private Wealth was created to provide our clients with more solutions around investments, banking, insurance and socially-responsible investing," Squarcia says.

Squarcia, the founding principal of One Charles, most recently served as a senior resident director at Merrill's Hyannis, Mass., complex, according to Focus Financial. Wallin is a former first vice president at Merrill with experience working with high-net-worth families, the firm says.

Both Squarcia and Wallin got their starts in the financial securities industry with Merrill in 2000 and 2004, respectively, according to FINRA's BrokerCheck. The two have worked together at the firm since 2006, according to Focus Financial.

Four other Merrill advisors, with a combined $700 million in AUM, recently left the wirehouse for the independent space with Dynasty Financial Partners.

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