Another day, another advisor team departs First Republic.
Two San Francisco-based financial advisors left the failed bank to join RBC Wealth Management, bringing $452 million in client assets with them.
The two will form The Nickel Cox Group at RBC, with Mark Nickel serving as a managing director and financial advisor and Michael Cox serving as a senior vice president and financial advisor at the firm.
Nickel and Cox both joined First Republic in 2016 as a wealth manager and associate wealth manager, respectively. Prior to that, Nickel spent 10 years at Merrill Lynch, and Cox spent one year there.
“RBC Wealth Management continues to attract top advisors and teams who seek a culture with a fierce focus on the client-advisor relationship,” said Michael Schipper, Northern California complex director at RBC Wealth Management—U.S., in a statement.
RBC has been picking up quite a few First Republic advisors in the bank’s fallout, particularly in California. Last week, RBC announced it had recruited the Friedman Peters Group, a San Francisco-based team with $400 million in managed assets. In early April, the Todd Halbrook and Adam MacDonald Management Group, a $1 billion AUM team in Newport Beach, Calif., went to RBC. Several weeks later, First Republic advisors Brian Addington and Theresa Allen joined RBC’s San Francisco and Newport Beach locations, respectively. The two advisors totaled $555 million in assets.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced Monday it would acquire First Republic Bank in a government-led deal, which includes the bank’s wealth management unit. JPMorgan had already recruited some advisors from First Republic's wealth management unit since the turmoil began in March.