A Morgan Stanley duo that managed approximately $200 million in client assets left to join Steward Partners, an independent firm affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services.
Their main reason for moving? They wanted greater control over their practice.
"This is a partnership and we have a say in the business. That doesn't happen anywhere else," says Timothy Davis, who joined Steward Partners in Boston with his teammate Michaelyn Bortolotti.
They're the latest advisors to jump from the wirehouse to independent channel amid
Independent firms and regional brokerages, meanwhile, have ramped up hiring this year, luring top talent with promises of less bureaucracy and more freedom to structure their practices as they see fit. RBC Wealth Management and Janney Montgomery Scott have both said they've picked up more advisors this year than they did in 2016.
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Independent and regional firms have been maintaining strong appeal with new recruits.
October 3 -
"This is a window for these regional firms to really explode," says Rob Blevins, a recruiter in Dublin, Ohio.
September 26 -
The regional BD's newest hire has more than three decades of industry experience.
September 8
Through
For its part,
Indeed, Davis and Bortolotti joined Steward Partners' Boston branch, which
"When I go out there and meet with recruits, this is a model that resonates," Divisional President Jim Connors says.
LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
Davis is a veteran wirehouse advisor who started his career at Merrill Lynch in 1998, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. He's been with Morgan Stanley and predecessor firm Smith Barney since 2008.
Bortolotti got her start in the industry at Smith Barney in 2006, staying on after the firm's acquisition by Morgan Stanley. Also joining the team is Michael Carilli, who will serve as senior registered client administrative manager. He previous worked at Fidelity.
The team specializes in serving publicly traded corporations and their executives, and their work extends to pre-IPO and M&A planning.
Raymond James grabbed five multi-million teams in a month. Other firms to see big transitions include Wells Fargo and Ameriprise.
"In a lot of cases, the company's stock is the equivalent of a lottery ticket. Our goal is to help you diversify," Davis says.
He cites Steward Partners' relationship with Raymond James, which provides custody and other services to the independent partnership, as an additional reason behind their move. Davis says his team can tap Raymond James' corporate and executive services for additional support for his executive clientele.
But in talking about the reasons for their move out of the wirehouse channel, Davis also emphasizes how the industry has changed, noting that technology and other factors have commoditized products and services, eroding the edge that the biggest brokerage firms once held over their smaller rivals.
"If what you can get at a major bank versus a regional investment firm is largely the same, then what's the difference? It's going to be the people you work with," he says.
