Wells Fargo Advisors’ recruiting team has had an active couple of weeks.
Last Friday, the firm announced it added a Morgan Stanley team that had been managing $5.9 billion in client assets. On Monday, it alerted the market to a UBS team joining that had been managing more than $1.6 billion, and on Wednesday, it said another $1.5 billion Morgan Stanley team had joined the San Francisco-based wirehouse.
The moves come as Wells Fargo continues its push to add to its national wealth division, which this year moved its headquarters to West Palm Beach, Fla. On its most recent earnings call, the firm said expenses were up 11% due to higher revenue-related compensation for its wealth managers.
Wells Fargo’s most recent addition includes private wealth financial advisors and brothers Stephen, David and Patrick Bartoli. The team is leaving Morgan Stanley after more than a decade, according to BrokerCheck, to launch Bartoli Private Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors.
Bortoli Private Wealth will be based in Lemoyne, Pa., and will include two other advisors, Craig McLean and William Duval, and three support staff.
The team “was drawn to our model that combines the scale and capabilities clients expect with hands-on support and strong local resources to deliver a truly high-touch experience,” Ken Terranova, Wells Fargo Advisors’ Greater Pennsylvania market leader, said in a statement.
On Monday, Wells Fargo said it had won over a UBS team based in Frisco, Texas. Advisors and managing directors Jay Arbetter, Jason Taraszki, Henry Jordan and Rusti Rogger made the move after spending as many as two decades with UBS, according to BrokerCheck. Their new firm, AGT Private Wealth Group, will also include two other advisors and eight support staff.
UBS has been struggling with advisor attrition over the past few quarters, though Chief Financial Officer Todd Tuckner said on its first-quarter earnings call that the wirehouse has a “healthy” recruiting pipeline.
The largest group to jump ship for Wells Fargo by prior client assets will be based in New York City under the name The Taylor Group of Wells Fargo Advisors.
The team comprises nine private wealth advisors formerly with Morgan Stanley: James Taylor, Shane Drumm, Michaella Irvine, Marcus Briscoe, Cameron Irvine, Jamison Embury, Roger McGlynn, Hunter Embury and Kyle Drumm. They are joined by 10 support staff.
“This is a highly driven team that operates with precision and purpose,” Patrick Baumann, New York City market leader for Wells Fargo Advisors, said in a statement. “They’re keen to take advantage of Wells Fargo’s full balance sheet, which gives them a clear runway to serve their clients holistically.”
It hasn’t been all wins for the wirehouse in a competitive market for advisors. On Tuesday, registered investment advisor Arax Advisory Partners said it is adding The Oak Group, a former Wells Fargo advisory that had been managing $1.5 billion in client assets.
