By Michael Wursthorn
Merrill Lynch has hired two more financial advisers from
Barclays PLC's U.S. wealth-management unit.
The firm said Tuesday afternoon that advisers Peter Kong and
John Shaw joined its ultra-high-net-worth team, known as the
Private Banking and Investment Group, in San Francisco. That team
typically handles clients with $10 million or more in investible
assets.
Together, the two advisers generated roughly $6 million in fees
and commissions annually, a Merrill spokeswoman said. She declined
to provide the amount of client assets managed by the pair.
A Barclays spokesman didn't immediately respond to a message
seeking comment on the departure.
Merrill has added 16 Barclays advisers since the London-based
bank agreed in June to sell its U.S. wealth-management operation to
Stifel. Those advisers, including Messrs. Kong and Shaw, have been
choosing to accept deals to join rival firms instead of joining
Stifel, which is offering to pay Barclays advisers 150% of their
last 12 months of production in exchange for their employment.
Brokerage recruiters have said that they expect most of
Barclays's advisers to express their intent to join Stifel ahead of
the deal's expected close in November, thanks to an equities credit
distribution agreement between the two companies. However, those
recruiters have also said some brokers may be tempted by rival
firms' big signing bonuses, sometimes more than double what Stifel
is offering.
Merrill isn't the only firm to benefit from the Barclays
defections. Earlier on Monday, a half dozen Barclays advisers
formed a more than $3 billion independent practice, known as Summit
Trail Advisors, with the support of Dynasty Financial Partners. And
Morgan Stanley recently announced the addition of one Barclays
adviser who managed $1 billion in client assets.
(Street Moves chronicles the migration of executives on Wall
Street, with a particular emphasis on financial advisers with more
than $1 million in annual production and those who manage more than
$100 million in client assets.)
Write to Michael Wursthorn at michael.wursthorn@wsj.com
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