UBS Wealth Management Americas has hired a three-member Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management team to its private wealth management office in Chicago.
The team, which operates under the name Desai Group, previously had $1.7 billion in client assets under management and $8.3 million in annual fees and commissions.
The team is led by Ajay Desai, who now serves as managing director and private wealth advisor at UBS. Desai also served as managing director and private wealth advisor at Morgan Stanley. Before that, Desai worked at Merrill Lynch’s private banking and investment group.
Other members of Desai’s team also joining UBS include John Staab and Frank Pellicori, who each serve as senior vice president.
Staab was with Morgan Stanley for more than two years and Citigroup before that for about one year, according to his registration records with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Before that, Staab served at Merrill Lynch for eight years.
Pellicori had served at Morgan Stanley for almost 11 years, with a brief stint at Citigroup in 2009, his registration records show.
The team has been registered with UBS since Nov. 4, according to their individual registration records with FINRA. Their clients include individuals and ultra high net worth families, as well as institutions such as family offices, hedge funds and private equity funds.
