Advisor moves: RBC nabs $500M Merrill team as LPL recruits $350M Osaic advisor

RBC and LPL have notched new recruitment wins, with RBC welcoming a former Merrill Lynch team to its ranks and LPL onboarding an ex-Osaic advisor on the East Coast.

In Austin, RBC Wealth Management welcomed The MK Group from Merrill Private Wealth Management. The three-person team brings close to $500 million in client assets to RBC’s Texas branch.

The group includes Nancy McDonald and Jason Khawaja, who are both stepping in as senior vice presidents and financial advisors at RBC, along with Alexandria Hardcastle, who serves as senior client associate.

Khawaja and McDonald have partnered for more than a decade, with experience serving high-net-worth clients in need of complex planning solutions.

Khawaja has built a background in portfolio management, institutional investing and asset allocation, while McDonald, a former attorney, focuses on wealth structuring, credit and lending, philanthropy and estate planning strategies.

Khawaja cited RBC’s capabilities and emphasis on enabling deeper client engagement as a driving force behind the move. "We are excited to .. have the autonomy to run our practice in ways that will benefit our clients who have complex wealth planning needs," he said. 

McDonald added that leadership accessibility played a key role in the team’s decision, highlighting RBC's "[openness] to our ideas and ... how we run our business.”

Recruitment has been busy at RBC of late. Last week, it welcomed a billion dollar-plus advisor from US Bank in Minneapolis and a $5 billion dollar team from JP Morgan Wealth Management, which was one of its largest recruitment moves ever.

Meanwhile, LPL Financial has expanded its advisor base with the addition of James “Jim” Verdi and his independent practice, Synergy Wealth Strategies. Based in Smithtown, New York, Verdi moves to LPL from Osaic, bringing with him approximately $350 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets.

Verdi founded Synergy in 2008 and describes the firm’s approach as collaborative and tailored.

“Our clients’ goals are well thought out and often quite complex," he said in a statement announcing the move. "Their portfolios should reflect the same."

His firm serves a diverse client base and emphasizes long-term planning through a holistic lens, including retirement readiness, investment guidance, and intergenerational wealth transfer.

Verdi's affiliation with Osaic was quite short-lived, beginning in October last year and ending in March, according to his BrokerCheck profile. He began his career with Morgan Stanley in 2000 before moving on to Merrill Lynch in 2005, where he stayed for just over three years.