The dust has barely settled on JPMorgan Chase's deal to buy First Republic, and already some wealth advisors are on the move again. Between Monday and Tuesday, advisors managing a total of over around $2.5 billion of assets left the hollowed-out former regional bank, ignoring promises of stability and resources by their new employer.
Terance Takyi, a New York City-based advisor who joined First Republic from J.P. Morgan Advisors in
Takyi will be a managing director and financial advisor at UBS, similar to the posts of managing director and wealth manager he held at First Republic.
"His practice focuses on providing comprehensive wealth management solutions, including trust and estate planning, philanthropic giving, tax-efficient lending options, as well as broad asset management advice, to ultra-high net worth individuals, families, and foundations," UBS said in an emailed press release Tuesday.
The move comes as the largest American bank swallows up First Republic practically whole, and plans to axe the First Republic
Some advisors may leave anyway — either because they've already tried the J.P. Morgan shop in the past, like Takyi, and didn't like it, or because they weren't sold on their new employer's resources relative to competitors.
Separately, Roy Elliott, Jonathan Jewitt and Peter Morimoto, a trio of advisors based in San Diego, have also left First Republic for Los Angeles-based wealth advisory firm
In addition, on Monday advisors David Mucha and Robert Gehlen left First Republic for Wells Fargo Advisors. They generated $2 million in revenue and managed $650 million in assets, a WFA spokesperson confirmed in an email.
First Republic advisor Daniel Selcow
"These are some of the smartest advisors and several of them have made multiple moves in the course of a career. They know exactly what they're doing. And they were able to assess their liabilities and assets with precision," Phil Waxelbaum, an industry recruiter at Masada Consulting familiar with many First Republic advisors, said in an interview.
The moves, if they continue, could mar the victory of the acquisition for Dimon. The deal was projected to "add roughly $290 billion of FRC wealth management assets, about 11% of the current size of JPM's wealth management business," according to an analyst note Tuesday by S&P Global Ratings.
"Assuming JPM is able to retain the bulk of FRC's wealth advisers, we believe this should generate consistent recurring revenue," the analysts said in the note, although they acknowledged the risk of "greater than expected employee and client attrition, which we view as less likely given the strength of the JPMorgan franchise."
