$245M Morgan Stanley team goes independent

Another day, another wirehouse team breaks away.

Industry veteran and former Morgan Stanley adviser Kevin D. Kimery is going independent and he is taking his five-person team who oversaw $245 million in client assets with him, according to a spokesman.

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"Our team has spent decades earning the trust of our clients, and recognized that in order to maintain that trust we needed to evolve into a fully transparent, independent financial advisory business," said Kimery in a statement.

Kimery worked at Morgan Stanley for eight years before his departure. He started his career at Goldman Sachs in 1993, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records.

Joining Kimery is Matthew C. Heffington, who worked with him as a part of the Kimery Group at Morgan Stanley’s Memphis, Tennessee office.

Heffington started working at Morgan Stanley in 2014, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. He previously worked at the Sharpe Group, a nonprofit consulting firm based in Memphis, according to a spokesman.

The independent firm, dubbed Kimery Wealth Management, will offer financial planning, asset management and portfolio consulting, among other services, according to the company.

Charles Schwab will serve as the firm’s custodian.

A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the team’s departure.

The wirehouse has lost several teams recently. For instance, Morgan Stanley lost a team earlier this month that managed $300 million in clients assets to Merrill Lynch. The group was based in New York.

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