Merrill Lynch

The regional broker-dealer is coming off a big recruiting year.

The 17-member team is one of the largest to switch employers in recent years.

The firm added 40,000 new accounts last year and hit a record $3 trillion in client balances.

More often than not, wirehouses were on the losing side of these moves.

Supervisory failures at LPL Financial, J.P. Morgan Securities, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup prevented assets from moving to beneficiaries on time.

The new hires signed on with the firm’s employee broker-dealer.

On the losing side of this exchange: Wells Fargo, UBS and Merrill Lynch.

Wells Fargo welcomed 22 active duty members to its corporate office as part of a corporate fellowship program.

The firm also opened a new branch office to house its recruits.

The firm has picked up 19 advisors and opened six offices this year.

The new hires came at the expense of Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo.

The wirehouse is making changes ahead of an expected wave of baby boomer departures.

As the college savings vehicle grows in popularity, regulator up scrutiny of brokerages’ recommendations to clients.

Two of the new hires have more than 20 years of industry experience each.

Two dozen advisors left the wirehouse in recent months to join the regional BD.