UBS, Morgan Stanley, RBC, Merrill: Biggest advisor moves this week

November 13, 2025 6:12 PM

Heller Stieffel Noto team.jpg — RBC Wealth Management has recruited Heller Stieffel & Noto Wealth Management from UBS.

Sometimes recruiting deals in wealth management can resemble a busy airport with advisors coming and going from the same destinations seemingly all at once.

This week presented just such a spectacle with Morgan Stanley and RBC picking up teams from UBS, and then RBC and Merrill pulling recruits from Morgan Stanley. United Capital, Mercer and Lido Advisors also made big purchases. Read on below.

Team managing $3.7B departs UBS for Morgan Stanley

A large advisory team with offices in several southern cities has left UBS to join Morgan Stanley.

Executive Financial Advisors, which has offices in Dallas, Atlanta, and Jacksonville, Florida, is one of many groups to join Morgan Stanley from its wirehouse rival UBS in recent weeks. Executive Financial Advisors had managed $3.7 billion in client assets at UBS.

The team's members include Todd Urowsky, Trevor Fahr, Tyson Rising, Andrew Noone, David Folmnsbee, Ryan Anderson, Brian Feldman, Matthew Sharp and Cody Zweifel. According to FINRA's BrokerCheck database, Urowsky began his career at Goldman Sachs' Ayco before moving to UBS in 2010. Several other team members — Fahr, Folmnsbee, Noone, Anderson, Feldman and Sharp — also followed a similar path, going from Ayco to UBS. Rising started at Merrill Lynch in 2004 and joined UBS in 2010, and Zweifel started at UBS in 2015.

The recruiting deal was first reported by the industry publication AdvisorHub.

The departures come after UBS adjusted its U.S. financial advisor compensation about a year ago, a change that resulted in reduced payouts for some advisors. The firm was seeking to improve the profits of its Americas unit and align its pay practices with its competitors.

Morgan Stanley has been one of the biggest destinations for departing UBS advisors. The Couch Group, a three-advisor team managing $450 million, recently left to join Morgan Stanley in Watertown, New York.

UBS announced in September that it was rolling back some of its advisor compensation changes with an eye toward encouraging advisors to stay put following a steady stream of departures over the past year. UBS ended its third quarter with 5,779 advisors in its Americas unit, which includes Canada and Latin America. That was up slightly from the number for the second quarter but down from 5,986 in the third quarter of 2024.

RBC picks up $1.2B team from UBS

RBC Wealth Management-U.S. is moving into Louisiana with a team pulled from UBS.

Heller Stieffel & Noto Wealth Management joins the U.S. wealth subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada in New Orleans. The group had previously managed $1.2 billion in client assets for UBS in New Orleans.

The team consists of the financial advisors Mark H. Heller, Diana Dalton Stieffel and Andrew B. Noto, along with senior investment associate and branch manager Terri Folkins and senior client associate Colleen Kirkpatrick. Heller started his career at W.S. Griffith in 1987 and moved to UBS in 2008 after stints at two other firms.

Stieffel started at Lehman Brothers in 1987 and moved to UBS in 2009 after passing through several other firms. And Noto started at Ameriprise in 2015 and moved to UBS in 2022, also after time at other firms.

RBC has been swelling its advisor ranks with some big recruiting deals in recent months. RBC has brought in several large teams from UBS, including an eight-member group that had been managing $1.7 billion at the Switzerland-based wirehouse.

RBC reported in August that it had added 27 advisors net to its headcount in its most recent quarter, bringing its total to 6,218. UBS, which has been struggling departures following changes to its pay policies this year, ended its third quarter with 5,779 advisors in its Americas unit, which includes Canada and Latin America. That was up slightly from the number for the second quarter, but down from 5,986 in the third quarter of 2024.

RBC recruits $705M team from Morgan Stanley

RBC Wealth Management-U.S. is adding to its presence in North Dakota with a three-member advisory team pulled from Morgan Stanley.

The McGrath Group, which had formerly managed $705 million in client assets at Morgan Stanley, is joining RBC in Fargo. The team is composed of the financial advisors Patrick McGrath and Dyan Droegemueller, along with the senior financial associate Shannon Nordick.

McGrath obtained an industry license in 2003 and then went for a long period without being affiliated with a firm until joining Morgan Stanley in 2015, according to BrokerCheck. Droegemueller started at Morgan Stanley in 2023.

The McGrath Group's specialties include managing employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs. ESOPs allow employees to be compensated with shares of the companies they work for.

Merrill pulls $420M team from Morgan Stanley

Merrill is welcoming back from Morgan Stanley a pair of advisors who had previously taken their practices elsewhere.

Scott Schoenberg and Wesley "Wes" Smith have joined Merrill in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta, Georgia. The team most recently managed $420 million at Morgan Stanley and had produced $3 million in annual revenue.

They'll now be part of Merrill's Atlanta Buckhead Market, which is led by Senior Market Executive John Inhouse and Senior Resident Director Tom Singh. Schoenberg started his career in 1991 at PaineWebber and progressed through various firms before going to Merrill for the first time in 2006 and then Morgan Stanley in 2017. Smith started at NYLife Securities in 2013, then moved through several firms before joining Merrill for the first time in 2017. He went for a brief period to MML Investors Services before joining Morgan Stanley in 2020.

Merrill has restarted its recruiting endeavors within the past few years after laying off for a while.

United Capital acquires RIA with $4B in assets

United Capital Financial Advisors has completed its second acquisition of the year, adding to its geographic presence in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southwest.

The firm has brought Apexium Financial into its fold. The Dallas-based advisory firm manages more than $4 billion in client assets. The RIA is led by managing partners Robert Brown, Cory Chmelka and Matthew Marcello.

Apexium said it is joining United Capital to receive additional support for income tax and estate planning, investment management and its insurance and business services. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This acquisition follows United Capital's addition of The Paul Group in September. United Capital, a subsidiary of the RIA giant Creative Planning, is based in Irving, Texas, and has $17.2 billion in assets under management.

Lido Advisors to buy RIA with more than $1.2B in AUM

The large RIA-acquirer Lido Advisors is planning to buy a large advisory practice in a deal expected to close by the end of the year.

Marc Rock is the managing partner and senior financial strategist at Fountainhead Advisors.

Lido Advisors, which has more than $38 billion in client assets, announced this week that it has bought Fountainhead Advisors for an undisclosed amount. Fountainhead has its headquarters in Warren, New Jersey, and an office in San Ramon, California. The firm specializes in financial planning, insurance and working with high net worth families.

Lido has its headquarters in Los Angeles and 45 offices in the U.S. It receives backing from the private equity firms Charlesbank Capital Partners, Constellation Wealth Capital and the alternative investments firm HPS Investment Partners.

Mercer buys tax specialist Beach Freeman Lim & Leland

Mercer Advisors is becoming the latest large wealth manager to boost its tax expertise with the purchase of an outside firm.

Mercer, a large RIA integrator with $90 billion in client assets, announced this week that it had acquired Beach Freeman Lim & Leland, a tax specialist and account firm based in Los Angeles. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Beach Freeman Lim & Leland has 20 tax professionals serving 500 clients in the healthcare, real estate, law, construction and sports industries, among others. The addition builds on Mercer's family office services running from financial and estate planning, to tax planning and preparation, and investment management. Mercer already has more than 120 professionals on its national tax team.

Mercer has its headquarters in Denver and more than 100 offices throughout the U.S. It is majority owned by the private equity firms Oak Hill Capital, Genstar Capital and Atlas Partners.