Merrill Shifts Execs, Resources to Better Serve Ultra-Wealthy

Merrill Lynch’s move in the UHNW space comes about two weeks after rival Morgan Stanley created a 66-person team — set to be called Morgan Stanley Family Office Resources — to help it better serve ultra-wealthy clients, according to a Bloomberg report.

As for Merrill Lynch’s latest news, personnel changes include the following:

• Linda Patel will become a Regional Managing Director (RMD) for the Texas region, based in Dallas.
• Andres De Corral, based in Miami, will become the RMD of the Florida region.
• Greg McGauley, now the Northeast RMD of PBIG and an institutional client acquisition liaison, will lead the newly formed Strategic Wealth Advisory Services team.
• The Center for Family Wealth Dynamics and Governance will become part of the SWAS and continue to be led by Stacy Allred.
• Inez Louzonis will continue to head international strategy.
• Kevin Walsh will remain the leader of institutional strategy.
• Others staying in their current positions will be Mollie Colavita, RMD, Metro (New York); Tracy Murphy, RMD, Pacific Northwest; Mike Nies, RMD, Southeast; Michael Rogers, RMD, Southwest; and Brett Thelander, RMD, Midwest.
• Liam O’Neil will become a Business Development Executive.

As of Dec. 30, Merrill had 14,953 advisors and $2.3 trillion in client assets.

— Check out IBD Execs Open Up About Industry Shifts on ThinkAdvisor.