RBC snags giant $5.5 billion team from UBS in Atlanta

ESOP Group team, from left: Rebecca Leichter, Dana Breland, Andrew Becket, Catherine Mericka, Curt Rubinas, Leslie Lauer, Rebecca Glasgow, Kurt Hirshman, Dianna Moore and Christy Dryden

The ESOP Group, founded in 1989, specializes in working with business owners on the sale of their businesses.

RBC Wealth Management said Friday that it had hired a substantial practice in Atlanta, the ESOP Group, with close to $5.5 billion in client assets, from UBS.

The three managing directors of the team are Leslie Lauer, Rebecca Glasgow and Curt Rubinas. According to their BrokerCheck profiles, Lauer spent 17 years at UBS, while Glasgow and Rubinas had worked at the giant Swiss bank’s U.S. wealth management business for 15 and 17 years, respectively.

A spokesperson for UBS declined to comment.

ESOP Group was founded in 1989. ESOP stands for employee stock ownership plan, and the firm specializes in working with business owners on succession planning and the sale of privately owned businesses.

“RBC Wealth Management’s supportive leadership and culture will allow us the freedom to focus on what we do best — helping our clients transition their businesses,” Lauer said in a statement.

The team includes senior financial associates Kurt Hirshman and Catherine Mericka, senior client associates Andrew Becket and Christy Dryden, senior investment associates Dana Breland and Christy Dryden and client associate Rebecca Leichter.

“This talented and forward-thinking team is further proof that RBC Wealth Management continues to be the firm of best fit for the industry’s top advisors,” Tom Sagissor, president of RBC Wealth Management – U.S., said in the statement.

[More: RBC Wealth lures $1.1B advisory team from UBS to expand presence in Ohio]