By Bob Margolis
NEW YORK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS has lost two teams of high performing financial advisers over the past two weeks in the latest sign of turmoil in the advisory profession.
RBC Wealth Management, a unit of Royal Bank of Canada , the country's largest bank, late last month poached six financial consultants from UBS, including a team that managed more than $1 billion in client assets.
The team, known as Flader Consulting Group -- comprising Allan Flader, his brothers Michael Flader and Brian Flader, Chris Young and Joanne Lane -- joined RBC's Phoenix office Oct. 31, bringing with them $4 million in production. They will report to branch manager Tim Rannow.
Separately, Jerry Nichols, a former Merrill Lynch broker, also joined RBC's Phoenix office recently after a three-year stint at UBS. He joined RBC as a senior vice president and financial consultant, carrying with him $1 million in production and $160 million-plus in assets under management.
A spokeswoman for the Swiss bank, which axed bonuses for its top executives on Monday and saw its shares slump to a new all-time low, confirmed the departure of the six advisers.
RBC has ramped up recruiting of financial advisers in the United States from struggling firms hurt by the credit crisis, auction-rate securities problems and other issues.
The bank has been on a recruiting rampage, having lured 157 financial consultants -- what the firm calls its financial advisers -- so far this year, up from 89 in the same period a year earlier.
In another high-profile defection from UBS, Minneapolis-based Marks Group Wealth Management Team left on Nov. 10 to launch an independent advisory firm.
Marks Group is led by Bennett Marks, its founder, president and chief investment officer, as well as managing principals John Feste and Brian Nietzel and financial consultant Jeremy Schmidt.
Bennett Marks said in an interview the decision to leave UBS was not taken lightly, given the administrative burdens placed on a small independent team. But the payoff in terms of freedom to choose the right products for clients made the move worth it, he said.
'Even my 83-year-old mother, who reads the financial headlines, just asked me, 'Why now?'' Marks said.
His answer: 'Because it is in times like these that we earn our keep. The clients need a trusted adviser now more than ever.'
(Editing by John Wallace) Keywords: UBS/ADVISERS (robert.margolis@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6250; Reuters Messaging: robert.margolis.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
NEW YORK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS has lost two teams of high performing financial advisers over the past two weeks in the latest sign of turmoil in the advisory profession.
RBC Wealth Management, a unit of Royal Bank of Canada , the country's largest bank, late last month poached six financial consultants from UBS, including a team that managed more than $1 billion in client assets.
The team, known as Flader Consulting Group -- comprising Allan Flader, his brothers Michael Flader and Brian Flader, Chris Young and Joanne Lane -- joined RBC's Phoenix office Oct. 31, bringing with them $4 million in production. They will report to branch manager Tim Rannow.
Separately, Jerry Nichols, a former Merrill Lynch broker, also joined RBC's Phoenix office recently after a three-year stint at UBS. He joined RBC as a senior vice president and financial consultant, carrying with him $1 million in production and $160 million-plus in assets under management.
A spokeswoman for the Swiss bank, which axed bonuses for its top executives on Monday and saw its shares slump to a new all-time low, confirmed the departure of the six advisers.
RBC has ramped up recruiting of financial advisers in the United States from struggling firms hurt by the credit crisis, auction-rate securities problems and other issues.
The bank has been on a recruiting rampage, having lured 157 financial consultants -- what the firm calls its financial advisers -- so far this year, up from 89 in the same period a year earlier.
In another high-profile defection from UBS, Minneapolis-based Marks Group Wealth Management Team left on Nov. 10 to launch an independent advisory firm.
Marks Group is led by Bennett Marks, its founder, president and chief investment officer, as well as managing principals John Feste and Brian Nietzel and financial consultant Jeremy Schmidt.
Bennett Marks said in an interview the decision to leave UBS was not taken lightly, given the administrative burdens placed on a small independent team. But the payoff in terms of freedom to choose the right products for clients made the move worth it, he said.
'Even my 83-year-old mother, who reads the financial headlines, just asked me, 'Why now?'' Marks said.
His answer: 'Because it is in times like these that we earn our keep. The clients need a trusted adviser now more than ever.'
(Editing by John Wallace) Keywords: UBS/ADVISERS (robert.margolis@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6250; Reuters Messaging: robert.margolis.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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