Morgan Stanley Hires from Merrill, J.P. Morgan, UBS -- Street Moves

By Michael Wursthorn 

Morgan Stanley recently hired five financial advisers who had managed more than $565 million in client assets at rival firms.

The newly hired advisers include Thomas Forma and Kevin Nichols, previously with Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch where together they managed assets of more than $300 million, according to a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman.

The pair joined the firm's West Hartford, Conn., office on Friday.

Mr. Forma, who joined Morgan Stanley as a senior institutional consultant, had been with Merrill Lynch since 1982 and was one of the firm's advisers focused on institutional clients with more than $50 million in assets.

Mr. Nichols, meanwhile, had worked at Merrill Lynch since 2011 and specialized in high net-worth clients and family offices, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was hired as a senior investment management consultant, the Morgan Stanley spokeswoman said.

A Merrill Lynch spokeswoman confirmed the departures but declined to comment further.

Morgan Stanley's other hires include Michael Zalkind and John Williams, of the Zalkind and Williams team, from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s private-banking branch, Chase Private Client. Together, they had combined production of $2.1 million and managed $175 million in client assets, the Morgan Stanley spokeswoman said.

Both started at Morgan Stanley on Oct. 14 in the firm's Aventura, Fla., office after leaving J.P. Morgan, where they had been since 2009.

A J.P. Morgan spokeswoman declined to comment on the move.

The New York firm said it also hired Robert Phelps, a former UBS Wealth Management adviser had more than $1 million in production and managed $90 million in client assets. He started on Friday, too, in the firm's downtown Louisville, Ky., office, said the firm's spokeswoman.

He had been with UBS since 2000, joining the firm following its acquisition of J.C. Bradford & Co. that year. A UBS spokesman declined to discuss Mr. Phelps' move, saying the firm doesn't comment on departures.

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