In a spurt of intrafirm advisor moves, Ameriprise and Raymond James both announced they had enticed financial advisors away from Wells Fargo, with each firm introducing new team members with more than $100 million in assets under management. Ameriprise also welcomed a new addition from Merrill Lynch who previously had managed about $168 million in client assets.
Kevin Lokey, an advisor with 25 years of experience in the financial services industry and managing $112 million in assets, joined Raymond James’ Saint Simons Island, Ga., office from Wells Fargo. According to Raymond James, Nina Brady, a client service associate who’d worked with Lokey for 17 years, joined him in the transition. In speaking about the move, Lokey noted Raymond James’ “strong family culture.”
“Beyond the culture, the support, technology and client experiences at Raymond James are unparalleled,” he said. “I also appreciate the firm’s client-first values and visions, as they strongly align with my own beliefs and how I choose to practice.”
Mark Burton, an advisor based in Dayton, Ohio, with 20 years of industry experience, spent his last 16 at Wells Fargo before deciding to move to Ameriprise; he manages about $152 million in client assets. According to Ameriprise, he created the Burton Lucius Financial Consulting Group with his branch manager, Todd Lucius, and his wife, Norma Burton, who acts as a client service associate with Sandy Long. All of them but Lucius are joining Ameriprise. Mark Burton said he made the move based on the strength of the firm’s management team, its high ranking in customer satisfaction and services, and its investments in technology.
The moves come in the midst of significant changes at Wells Fargo; most notably, late last month the company announced that Bank of New York Mellon CEO Charles Scharf would take over as CEO of Wells Fargo, effective Oct. 21, replacing interim CEO Allen Parker. Scharf would take charge as Wells Fargo attempts to navigate through the aftermath of several scandals that contributed to former CEO Tim Sloan’s abrupt departure last March.
Ameriprise also announced that Peter Bazirgan, with $168 in AUM, would join the company after he spent 22 years with Merrill Lynch. Earlier this month, a Houston-based advisor team with $165 million in AUM broke away from Merrill Lynch to create Royal Harbor Partners, a new hybrid registered investment advisory firm.