Veteran Merrill group with $5 billion jumps to First Republic

First Republic Bank continued to pick off wirehouse and Wall Street veterans and said on Monday it had hired a Merrill Lynch team led by John C. McNamee and Daniel J. White, both with more than 20 years experience at Merrill, to work at First Republic Investment Management in Century City, a neighborhood in Los Angeles.

The team has approximately $5 billion in client assets, according to an industry source who asked not to be identified. First Republic does not disclose assets under management from individual teams.

The private bank has been extremely successful over the past few years in enticing wirehouse veterans to jump ship. For example, over the summer, Phil Scott, also most recently with Merrill Lynch, and his team started working at First Republic in Seattle. In May, Brian Zakrocki and Joseph Wladyka left Goldman Sachs for First Republic in New York.

McNamee and White were both registered with Merrill Lynch since 1996 before moving to First Republic at the end of last week, according to their BrokerCheck reports.

They were each named managing director and wealth manager and are joined by two investment specialists and three client support associates, according to a statement by First Republic. The team will provide investment management, retirement planning, investment consulting and other wealth management services to individuals, families, nonprofits and private family foundations, according to the company.

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