Andrew Welsch

The wirehouse's latest hires will support client development and strengthen product delivery, according to Morgan Stanley.

Industry insiders say wealth management is going through its biggest upheaval in decades.

"It was terribly important to us that we were participating and supporting a partnership with a firm that is innovating and has strong backing," said Richard Steinmeier, head of the Wealth Advice Center at UBS.

More than 60% of mass affluent clients don't know how much they are charged, according to a new study by consulting firm A.T. Kearney.

Some wirehouse branch managers have made the transition to the independent channel, but doing so takes careful planning, experts say.

The new recruits are opening a new office for the independent firm.

The branch is staffed by 22 advisers, most of whom are recent recruits from Credit Suisse.

Robert Cook, an attorney and former SEC director, will have to help the regulator navigate complicated matters , from calls for an industrywide fiduciary standard to heightened congressional scrutiny.

Robert W. Cook will replace Richard Ketchum, who announced his retirement last year.

The firm, which acted as a custodian for a defunct RIA, allegedly failed to make material disclosures to clients regarding their accounts.

Analysts and industry insiders are divided as to what impact the wirehouse's revamped plan may have on rival firms and breakaway advisers.

President Tom Naratil says the firm will recruit less, spend more on advisers already at the firm and give additional power to branch managers.

The regulator also says that the firm suffered from supervisory failures during a four-year period.

Prior to her financial services career, the recruit was a U.S. Army reservist working as a Russian linguist.

Advisers say they have been asked to allocate less to equities and bonds in the face of global and political turmoil.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, SIFMA, FSI and other groups are asking a Texas court to vacate the Labor Department's new regulations less than a year before the rule goes into effect.

The firm is facing a lawsuit on behalf of investors who lost money in a $350 million Ponzi scheme.

The firm's newest recruit is a veteran broker from Morgan Stanley.

The new recruits joined the wirehouse from Merrill Lynch and UBS.

Wealth management leaders are weathering current markets while aiming to jumpstart AUM growth with expanded client services and new tech tools.