Merrill, a unit of Bank of America, recruited several financial advisors and their teams, including a former Morgan Stanley advisor whose team oversaw $1.5 billion in client assets, a Merrill spokeswoman said.
Todd Hatfield and his team joined Merrill's Boulder, Colo., office last week. Hatfield has more than 25 years of industry experience, having started his career at Morgan Stanley in 1999, according to BrokerCheck, a public database maintained by industry self-regulatory organization Finra.
His team includes wealth management client associates Jennifer Feeney, Susan Mohacey, and Melissa Hatfield.
Merrill's other recent hires include another former Morgan Stanley advisor, James Bee, who managed $131 million in client assets at Morgan and joined Merrill in Manchester, N.H. An advisor since 1994, Bee had worked at Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney, according to BrokerCheck.
A spokeswoman for Morgan Stanley was unavailable for immediate comment.
In Southlake, Texas, Merrill recruited former Wells Fargo advisor David Parrish, who managed $125 million in client assets at his former employer. Parrish joined Wells Fargo in 2016 and was previously registered with Credit Suisse. He has been an advisor since 1993.
Merrill also recruited advisor Anthony McMasters from Edward Jones, where he managed about $100 million in client assets. He is based in Shreveport, La. McMasters started his career at Edward Jones in 2021, according to BrokerCheck.
Representatives for Wells Fargo and Edward Jones were unavailable for immediate comment.
The recruits come amid a continuing tug of war over top talent among wealth management companies. In April, Merrill recruited private wealth manager Peter Laidlaw, who previously worked at J.P. Morgan Private Bank in San Francisco where he oversaw $2.2 billion in client assets. In May, Wells Fargo recruited two advisor teams from Merrill, which joined together to form a single practice affiliated with Wells Fargo's independent advisor unit. The combined practice oversaw $1.4 billion in client assets at Merrill.
Write to Andrew Welsch at andrew.welsch@barrons.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 13, 2026 10:53 ET (14:53 GMT)
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