UBS has scored a recruiting win in Puerto Rico with the arrival of a billion-dollar pair from Merrill, while Osaic and the Bahnsen Group, a multibillion-dollar firm with roots from Morgan Stanley, announce their own additions.
UBS has added a veteran advisor team in San Juan, bringing on financial advisors Mark Lilley and Gabriel Trigo along with senior registered client associate Ivelisse Moreno Guzman. The group joins the Puerto Rico Market, which is led by regional and market leadership based on the island.
Lilley joins from Merrill Lynch, where he spent more than 15 years working with individuals, families and institutions. He started his career at PaineWebber in 1996 and now has roughly three decades of experience in the industry, with a practice built around portfolio construction, risk management and long-term planning.
UBS is positioning Lilley’s background as a bridge between global markets and the specific needs of clients in Puerto Rico, a market that blends local wealth, cross-border families and business owners with ties to the mainland US and Latin America.
Trigo also arrives from Merrill Lynch, bringing more than 10 years of experience. He has focused on asset allocation, cross-border advisory work and global investment strategy, serving both domestic and international clients.
That cross-border focus aligns with the increasingly international nature of many Puerto Rico-based households and businesses that tap advisors for planning across currencies, tax regimes and jurisdictions.
In the independent channel, Osaic said Missouri-based advisors Michael Murray and Brian Fruend have launched F & M Investment Partners on its platform. The team, based in the greater St. Louis area, oversees about $232 million in client assets and brings more than 60 years of combined experience working with individuals and families.
Murray and Fruend were previously registered with Stifel for more than 20 years, according to their BrokerCheck records.
Fruend, a partner and investment executive at F & M Investment Partners, said in a statement that Osaic has “the tools and support we need to deliver more comprehensive wealth management solutions for our clients.”
F & M Investment Partners is one of several independent practices that have recently joined the Osaic network, including Oakfield Wealth Management Group and Sanders Wealth Management.
The Bahnsen Group, a Hightower Advisors-aligned wealth firm with more than $9 billion in AUM, has expanded its RIA footprint into Northern California.
The firm said it's opened a new Silicon Valley office in Campbell, anchored by advisor Sean Buxton. The new office at The Pruneyard Towers is the Bahnsen Group's eleventh nationwide and its first in the region.
Buxton joins from Legacy Capital Group and brings more than 20 years of experience in financial services, including prior roles at Beacon Pointe and Ameriprise. He has been based in the Silicon Valley area for more than two decades, giving the firm a locally rooted advisor in one of the country’s most concentrated wealth markets.
David Bahnsen, managing partner of the firm, framed the move as a logical extension of its existing client base in the area, highlighting "the growth and innovation that Silicon Valley is known for [as] a natural next step for us.”
“I couldn’t be more honored and excited to lead The Bahnsen Group’s Silicon Valley office and elevate what we can deliver for our clients,” Buxton said while citing his new employer firm's depth of talent, technology and family office capabilities.
Senior associate Eddie Molina has relocated from the firm’s Newport Beach headquarters to the new Campbell office.
The Bahnsen Group said it expects to add more advisors and staff in Silicon Valley and is planning to announce a 12th office later this year as it continues to lean on organic growth rather than acquisitions.
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