Merrill’s wealth unit adds high-producing advisers

On the heels of being acquired by Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp., Merrill Lynch’s global wealth management group has picked up a number of key advisers from rival financial services companies.
Among the brokers joining Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. are Jay Thornton from New York-based Morgan Stanley and Robert Dyer and Thomas Dexter from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. All three firms are located in New York.
Mr. Thornton produced more than $5.3 million in commissions and fees and managed $1.3 billion during his stint at Morgan Stanley while Mr. Dyer and Mr. Dexter produced over $2.9 million with $921 million in combined assets at Lehman.
Another broker who has crossed the street to join Merrill is Edward Dulin from New York-based UBS Financial Services Inc., who had more than $2.1 million in production and managed more than $181 million in assets.
Nine advisers from St. Louis-based Wachovia Securities LLC, who together had more than $5.6 million in production and managed in excess of $800 million in assets, were also scooped up by Merrill.
The Wachovia hires are: Michael Avadikian, Stefan Contorno, Elizabeth Goldthwaite, Joyce Harris, Phil Kousaie, Donald Limacher, Rhett Merchant, Mark Robles and John Straughn.

Related Topics: Merrill Lynch