Advisors on the Move: Morgan Stanley Picks Up Steam

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Haberer Registered Investment Advisor Inc. has a new leader. Gregory A. Smith, who was appointed as the president on Friday, will oversee the Huntington National Bank subsidiary. He will report to Steven Short, executive vice president and director of Huntington Wealth Advisors.

Cetera Advisors picked up a new recruit on Thursday, with Chandler, Ariz.-based Elizabeth Symons joining the firm from independent broker/dealer The Legend Group. Symons’ move was facilitated by The Advisor Center, making her the recruitment company’s tenth success story.

Securities America snagged financial advisor Gregory O’Donnell of the O’Donnell Financial Group in Larkspur, Calif. on Wednesday. With over $1.425 million in annual revenue and over $137 million in client assets, the O’Donnell Financial Group focuses on the securities and insurance fields, after starting out as a real estate and mortgage broker in 1987.

Investment bank and full service brokerage firm Ziegler hired Justin N. Frys on Wednesday. Frys, who has more than 15 years of advisory experience, will service as the senior vice president and branch manager of Ziegler’s Minnetonka, MN office.

Stroudsburg, Pa.-based Wealth Strategies & Management LLC brought Melisa D.B. Mersini on to their platform on Tuesday as a vice president and financial advisor. Prior to joining the firm, Mersini served as an advisor with the Pocono division of PNC Investments for the past 12 years.

H. Beck is changing up its management team. On Monday, Scott C. Thorson became the executive vice president and CEO of Capital Financial Group, an affiliate of H. Beck. Sharon L. Scibek was also named vice president of human resources. Meanwhile, the independent broker/dealer’s board of directors promoted 37-year veteran James H. Dresselaers, 56, to president on Aug. 19. Dresselaers, who joined H. Beck in 203 as a group leader, was previously president of Polaris Financial Services. Boston native, Dresselaers will oversee H. Beck’s 900 advisors in 540 offices across the country. H. Beck was purchased by Securian Financial Group Inc. in 2008.

UBS lured away the Rasweiler Group with $4.8 billion in AUM from Morgan Stanley last Wednesday. The group is led by John Rasweiler and includes John Cusate, Jack Riley, Micheal Jordao, Jesse Kent and William Burke. The group, which will be based out of the Florham Park, N.J., office, has a trailing 12-month production of $10 million.

Morgan Stanley recently picked up a number of advisors based in New York, Florida, Pennslyvania and Georgia, the firm said Tuesday. The SKOC Team, made up of former JP Morgan Chase and UBS advisors, joined Morgan Stanley’s Fifth Avenue office in New York with $1.5 billion in assets under management. The team is made up of Scott Siegel, Mehmet Kirdar and Michael O'Hara from JP Morgan and Joseph Carmody from UBS. Meanwhile Al Maulini and Joseph Torano, who head up a team with over $121 million in assets, joined Morgan Stanley’s Coral Gables, Fla. office from HSBC. Morgan Stanley also picked up the Marano Brothers Team, including advisors Frank Marano and Donald Marano from Raymond James. The duo has $100 million in assets and will be based out of the Allentown, Pa. office. Another former Merrill advisor, Jason Moss, also jumped ship to Morgan Stanley, joing the firm’s MSWM Pinnacle Office with $130 million in AUM. Last week the firm picked up several advisors in Ohio and North Carolina, the firm said last Tuesday. Kris Brenneman and his team, based in Akron, Ohio, joined from Merrill Lynch with prior assets of $130 million. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley also snagged Michael Scott Cooper and Michele Pike Smith from BB&T Securities. Cooper, who had $115 million in prior AUM will be based in Raleigh, N.C. and Smith, who had $80 million in prior AUM, will be based in Greensboro, N.C.