14 teams, $45B in AUM: Top recruits of 2019

By Paola Peralta, Bernadette Berdychowski

July 9, 2019 11:45 AM

It’s been an extraordinary year for mega recruiting moves.

First Republic lost a cohort of advisors managing $17 billion — breakaways that formed two new RIAs. While it was certainly the biggest this year and one of the largest ever, it wasn’t the only one.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs each lost teams overseeing approximately $6 billion in client assets, with one going independent and the other to a wirehouse. Meanwhile, Raymond James and Stifel both picked billion-dollar teams from their larger rivals.

Scroll down to read more about where these and other teams moved.

First Republic loses $17B advisors

People walk past a First Republic Bank office in downtown San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, December 9, 2010. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

No bank, regardless of size, has ever watched anything close to $17 billion in clients assets walk out the door. Given that this misfortune befell a relatively small one, the blow — at first blush — appears especially severe for First Republic Bank.

Nearly 50 members of its wealth management division have left, following the five top advisors on their team. If it were classed as a breakaway, which typically refers to brokers who bust out of their wirehouse firms, it would be the largest in history.

Of the leading advisors, David Hou and Mark Sear have formed Evoke Wealth based in Los Angeles. Robert Skinner, Alan Zafran and Eric Harrison launched IEQ Capital in Palo Alto, California.

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UBS hires $6.6B team from Goldman

A pedestrian shelters under an umbrella while passing a UBS Group AG bank branch in Zurich, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. A UBS loan backed by shares of Steinhoff International Holdings NV was to blame for the majority of the Swiss banks 79 million francs ($82 million) in credit losses in the fourth quarter, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

A team bolted from Goldman Sachs to join UBS. Advisors Cullen Thomason and Hunter Henry, who managed $6.6 billion in client assets at Goldman will join UBS in its Dallas office in July.

Thomason and Henry had been with Goldman for their entire careers, having joined the firm in 1997 and 2001, respectively, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records.

To read more about this story, click here.

$6B Morgan Stanley team goes indie

Americana Partners, led by advisor Jason Fertitta quit Morgan Stanley to go independent with an assist from Dynasty Financial Partners. The late-April mega departure represents a significant loss for Morgan Stanley, which has otherwise maintained low attrition levels since leaving the Broker Protocol in fall 2017.

Fertitta joined Morgan Stanley in 2008 after starting his career at Lehman Brothers. Other team members include Billy Busch, Robert Wellington, Sheldon Busch, Josh Caltrider, Johnathan Schnitzer and Ben Athens.

To read more, click here.

William Blair hires $3B team

William Blair’s newest hires opened a new branch in Baltimore for the boutique wealth manager. Standing from left to right:: Hunter Purcell; Philip Rauch; Mitchell Whiteman; Robert Hopkins; Perry Bacon. Seated: Robert Oster; Darcy Carroll

Roy Cox

William Blair recruited a seven-member, $3 billion team to open a new office in Baltimore.

The group consists of advisors Perry Bacon, Darcy Carroll, Robert Hopkins, Robert Oster, Hunter Purcell, Philip Rauch, Mitchell Whiteman and Jennifer Viglucci. They are all industry veterans: Whiteman has the least experience with 17 years in the business while Oster has the most with 46 years under his belt, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records.

The advisors made the move in part due to the company’s culture and resources, according to a statement from Hopkins.

To read more, click here.

Stifel grabs $2.3B in advisors

Stifel landed a team that oversaw more than $2 billion, furthering the firm’s expansion efforts. The four-person group from U.S. Bank is comprised of Scott Dolan, Jim Taylor, Tony Sausville and Mark Graham.

Also this year, Stifel recruited two teams from Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo. Combined, they had client assets of more than $300 million while at their respective wirehouses.

To read more, click here.

Merrill Lynch loses $2.5B to Rockefeller Capital Management

Rockefeller’s recruiting efforts landed them a batch of brokers from Merrill Lynch. The teams — the Higgins Hall Group and the Embleton Curtis Quackenbush Group — joined New York-based Rockefeller in Atlanta.

The seven-member Higgins Hall Group includes advisor Michael Hall. The team was previously part of Merrill Lynch’s Private Banking & Investment Group, which caters to wealthy clients.

The eight-member Embleton Curtis Quackenbush Group is led by William Curtis, John Embleton, P. Schuyler Quackenbush Jr. and Evan Georgiou.

To read more, click here.

$3B departures from Wells Fargo to First Republic

Pedestrians pass in front of a Wells Fargo & Co. bank branch in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018. Wells Fargo & Co. is scheduled to release earnings figures on January 12. Photographer: Daniel Tepper/Bloomberg

Bloomberg News

First Republic picked up two teams overseeing more than $3 billion.

The gains came at the expense of Wells Fargo.

Peter Morimoto, Jon Jewitt and Roy Elliott Jr. joined First Republic’s San Diego office as managing directors in January. Marena Tufenkjian also joined as a vice president and wealth manager.

Morimoto had been with Wells Fargo since 1998, according to FINRA BrokerCheck. Jewitt had previously worked as a senior investment strategist at the wirehouse, according to First Republic.

Elliot has 17 years of industry experience and worked at Morgan Stanley prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2004. Tufenkjian started her career at Wells Fargo in 2005, according to BrokerCheck.

First Republic’s other new hires include advisors George Fuchs, David Schulman, Gregory Carafello and Chad Cohen. They joined the bank in New York. Fuchs and Schulman are industry veterans, with 21 and 22 years of experience, respectively. They had been registered with Wells Fargo since 2008, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. They both have past work experience at Smith Barney and Dean Witter

To read more the San Diego hires, click here. To read about the New York team, click here.

Stifel nabs $1B Merrill Lynch team

Toby Ardoyno, Stifel’s newest hire, started his career at Merrill Lynch in 1999.

Stifel opened a Fort Worth, Texas branch staffed by two former Merrill Lynch advisors who oversaw approximately $1 billion in combined client assets.

Advisors Toby Ardoyno started his career at Merrill Lynch in 1999, according to FINRA BrokerCheck. His colleague Toni Rose joined the wirehouse from Cetera in 2014. A third advisor, Blake Furgerson, made the move with the team, a Stifel spokesman confirmed. Furgerson has five years of industry experience, according to BrokerCheck.

To read more about the story, click here.

Ex-HighTower RIA recruits $1.2B advisor from Fidelity

Meg Sheil-Puopolo Verdence Capital financial advisor sitting photo

Grant Gibson/Grant Gibson

An advisor who oversaw $1.2 billion in client assets left Fidelity Investments for Verdence Capital, a $2 billion RIA with ambitious growth plans.

Meg Sheil-Puopolo joined Verdence in Baltimore, where she will serve high-net-worth clients and families.

Previously, Sheil-Puopolo had been with Fidelity for 18 years, having transitioned into financial planning after working as a molecular biologist.

Verdence is headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

To read more about the story, click here.

$1B team defection from Wells Fargo big win for indie firm

Wells Fargo shiny glass signage displayed on the exterior of a bank branch in Dallas on Monday, July 10, 2017 Bloomberg News

Wells Fargo & Co. signage is displayed on the exterior of a bank branch in Dallas, Texas, U.S., on Monday, July 10, 2017. Wells Fargo & Co. is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 14. Photographer: Cooper Neill/Bloomberg

Cooper Neill/Bloomberg News

A team responsible for $1 billion in client assets quit Wells Fargo to join a smaller rival, AdvicePeriod.

Jackie Lewis and Ryan Goldenhar joined the independent firm, which has more than two dozen advisors operating out of 13 offices.

Lewis and Goldenhar had worked at Wells Fargo’s private bank as a financial advisor and investment strategist since 2004 and 2006, respectively, according to their LinkedIn profiles and BrokerCheck records. They cited AdvicePeriod’s resources as a reason for the move, according to a statement.

To read more about the story, click here.

$1B team returns to Morgan Stanley after 10 year UBS interlude

A pedestrian is reflected in the exterior of Morgan Stanley headquarters in New York, U.S., on Thursday, July 12, 2018. Morgan Stanley is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 18. Photographer: Bess Adler/Bloomberg

Bess Adler/Bloomberg

UBS lost two elite advisors to Morgan Stanley.

Jevin Ferguson and Daniel Marks now work at Morgan Stanley’s office in Newport Beach, California. They oversaw approximately $1 billion, according to Forbes’ best-in-state advisor ranking.

Ferguson and Marks have 18 and 19 years of industry experience, respectively, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. They had been registered with UBS since 2009, having previously worked at Smith Barney.

Marks started his career at Morgan Stanley in 1999, according to BrokerCheck.

Raymond James poaches $1B team from Merrill

A photo of the team at Seyle Hickey Wealth Management. From left: Tim Hickey, Kristin DeLong, Rusty Seyle, Alison Ehret, Marisa Gurnari. Photo courtesy Raymond James.

Raymond James picked up a Merrill Lynch team that managed roughly $1 billion in client assets and generated $3.6 million in annual revenue.

Raymond James has been aggressively recruiting for several years, including pushes into the West Coast and Northeast where it has traditionally had fewer advisors. The addition of Seyle Hickey Wealth Management, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, further enlarges its footprint in the Northeast.

Advisors William “Rusty” Seyle and Tim Hickey spent 27 and 24 years, respectively, at Merrill, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records.

To read about the move, click here.

Rockefeller recruits $1B UBS team

Bruce Tenenbaum and Andy Lam opened a new wealth management office for Rockefeller in San Francisco where they will cater to ultrahigh-net-worth clients, according to the firm which has focused on poaching top talent from Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS.

Tenenbaum had been with UBS since 2009, having previously worked at Goldman Sachs. Lam joined him at the wirehouse in 2014, having previously served as a financial analyst intern with Morgan Stanley.

To read more about this story, click here.