RBC is at it again, snags $190M Wells Fargo advisor

RBC’s recent recruiting push is continuing as the wealth management firm added another advisor to its growing pool of planners.

The regional broker-dealer hired advisor Bruce Gelfand, who joins its midtown New York City office after managing $190 million in assets under administration for Wells Fargo.

“When Bruce decided that he was going to be looking at some alternatives to Wells Fargo, he had considered a number of institutions,” RBC hiring manager John Moran told On Wall Street. “What was important to Bruce at Wells Fargo, and what continues to be important to him here, is that his wealth management firm is owned by a large, well-capitalized, healthy, responsible institution.”

Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

RBC has been scooping up a number former Wells Fargo advisors including a $200-million team that joined its Tucson, Arizona branch, a father-and-son team managing $395 million based in RBC’s Farmington, Connecticut office and a $182 million team to its Raleigh, North Carolina, office.

“After considerable due diligence, I decided to join RBC Wealth Management because of the global resources of RBC coupled with the small-firm culture,” Gelfand said in a statement.

Gelfand will be serving the high-net-worth and retirement services marketplaces. He was not available for comment.

Wells Fargo declined to comment. But, it isn’t all bad news for the firm. Earlier this fall its independent broker-dealer arm, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, also known as FiNet, grabbed two advisors from Merrill Lynch. Scott Brown, of Bozeman, Montana, and Ben Spiker, of Annapolis, Maryland, started a new practice called Shore to Summit Wealth Management.

Together they bring over $265 million in client assets and 41 years of industry experience to Wells Fargo.

RBC isn’t the only regional BD that has been on a hiring tear lately. Janney Montgomery Scott recently grabbed three wirehouse advisors with $465 million in combined client assets.

Advisors are moving away from the big firms for two reasons, explains recruiter Danny Sarch of Leitner Sarch Consultants.

“It’s not a matter of why [regional BD’s] are on a hiring spree now,” Sarch says. “The correct question is why are advisors now happier going there than they ever have been before? The answer is: one, being unhappy at the big firms and two, the capabilities of the smaller firms have caught up and in some cases exceeded the capabilities of the big firms.”