Advisers managing more than $500 million in combined client assets have gone independent with the Wells Fargo Financial Network, a spokesman for the firm said.
Butch Safyurtlu, who managed more than $225 million in client assets, left UBS to open APEX Investment Planning Services in Newport Beach, California, the spokesman said. Safyurtlu started his career at Mercer Allied in 2002, according to FINRA BrokerCheck records. He then left in 2010 to join UBS, BrokerCheck records show.
Plus, advisers with $450M in combined AUM join Benjamin Edwards.
A Merrill Lynch adviser who also went independent with Wells Fargo, Christopher Palmer, managed more than $178 million in client assets while at the wirehouse, according to the spokesman.
Palmer now operates an independent practice, Palmer Financial Consulting Group, based in Redlands, California. He entered the industry in 1999 through WMA Securities and moved to Washington Square Securities in 2000, according to BrokerCheck records. He began a previous stint at Wells Fargo a year later and then moved to Banc of America Securities in 2003. He joined Merrill Lynch in 2009, BrokerCheck records show.
Another adviser who went independent, Albert Berger, was last working for J.P. Morgan, where he managed more than $101 million in client assets, the Wells Fargo spokesman said. Berger joined BIG Planning, already affiliated with Wells Fargo. The firm is based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
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After predicting a strong recruiting year, Wells' independent advisory arm attracts planners from LPL Financial, UBS and U.S. Bank.
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The recruits left rival firms such as UBS and J.P. Morgan to join existing practices at the independent broker-dealer.
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Wells Fargo's independent arm landed seven recruits in its latest efforts to add more than the 102 advisers recruited from competitors last year.
July 27
Berger started his career at Citigroup Global Markets in 2006, according to BrokerCheck. He later worked for Morgan Stanley and Chase Investment Services before joining J.P. Morgan in 2012.
Spokespersons at Merrill Lynch and UBS declined to comment on the moves.
J.P. Morgan's spokeswoman was not immediately available for a comment.
