$2B team returns to Morgan Stanley after UBS interlude

Morgan Stanley digital signage is displayed outside the company's 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

Morgan Stanley scooped up two teams, including one that managed more than $2 billion in client assets at UBS.

It’s another sign of how even though three wirehouses have cut back on recruiting in recent years, they continue to covet elite advisors and the wealthy clients they serve.

The larger of Morgan’s recent hires joined the firm at its Park Avenue Plaza Complex in New York, which is overseen by Branch Manager Dwayne Barberis. Last year, his branch added a dozen advisors overseeing about $1.7 billion.

New hires Paul Vigue, William Platt, Renato Reali and Grant Templin generated $14 million in production at their previous firm.

A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman confirmed the new hires.

Vigue, Platt and Reali are returning to Morgan Stanley, having left the firm for UBS in 2011. , It turned out to be a short trip back — only four blocks separate their old UBS office in midtown and their new digs at Morgan Stanley, according to addresses listed on BrokerCheck.

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More often than not, wirehouses were on the losing side of these moves.

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The three advisors are industry veterans with decades in the business, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. Templin started his career nine years ago at UBS, according to BrokerCheck.

Morgan Stanley’s other new hires came from J.P. Morgan Securities, where they managed $300 million in client assets and generated $2.9 million in annual production.

Advisors Damion Carufe and Tsun Yen C Luo are based in Palm Beach, Florida.

Like the other new additions, Luo is returning to Morgan Stanley, having last worked at the firm in 2009.

Carufe has been with J.P. Morgan for 31 years, per BrokerCheck.

A spokesman for UBS declined to comment on the moves. A spokeswoman for J.P. Morgan could not be reached for comment.

In 2016, UBS cut back hiring efforts; Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch followed suit. In 2017, Morgan and UBS quit the Broker Protocol, an industry agreement that facilitates advisor moves.

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Recruiting Career moves Wirehouses Wirehouse advisors Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley Wealth Management J.P. Morgan Securities UBS Wealth Management
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