Wall Street's recruiting merry-go-round continues to spin at a furious pace, with each of the big wirehouse firms grabbing advisor recruits from its cross-town rivals. This time, Wells Fargo reeled in a sizeable catch, taking two teams and two individual practices with combined production of $3.5 million and client assets of $408 million, as well as three registered client associates, from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
The seven new financial advisors joined Wells Fargo's Clearwater, Florida office from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's Palm Harbor, Florida office. The new hires include:
- The Dukas Group: Nicholas G. Dukas, senior vice president, investments; Jason N. Dukas, first vice president, investments; Steffy Tcheutsing, financial advisor; Susan E. Ramsey, senior registered client associate.
- The Rolfe Group: Roger A. Rolfe, senior vice president, investments; Brian H. Rolfe, first vice president, investments; Sandra L. Thompson, senior registered client associate.
- Chad W. Spencer, first vice president, investments; Jeffrey T. Allen, financial advisor; Cindy A. Gibson, senior registered client associate.
The seven financial advisors will report to Bill Saunderson, manager of the Wells Fargo Clearwater, Florida office. The Clearwater office is part of the firm’s Tampa Complex, led by Tom Stuhlsatz, senior vice president.
Switching between firms has actually been down in 2010 and 2011, but it should return to historical averages of around 10 percent of retail financial advisors in 2012, according to Cerulli Associates.