Merrill Lynch strikes back with $1.2 billion hire

After losing a series of private wealth advisers to Morgan Stanley earlier this year, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has hit back with a large recruiting win of its own. Merrill Lynch said on Wednesday that it had scooped up a $1.2 billion private wealth team in Century City, Calif., that had previously generated some $5.8 million in annual revenue at Morgan Stanley. The nine-person team, which is led by long-time industry veteran Bruce Munster, will report to Michael Rogers, managing director and head of Merrill Lynch's private banking and investment group in Los Angeles. It's a win for a firm that began the year with the loss of a $6.5 billion private banking team to Morgan Stanley after losing advisers managing a total of $18.6 billion last year. (More: See all Merrill's departures and additions in IN's Advisers on the Move database.) Some advisers in Merrill's private banking group, many of whom have large institutional clients, left as the firm has retreated from managing public funds business over the past few years. Mr. Munster's group focuses on wealthy families and serves more than 60 “entrepreneurs, inventors and M&A professionals,” Merrill Lynch spokeswoman, Ana Sollitto, said in a statement. Merrill Lynch, which usually announces new hires with a one-sentence description of their location, assets and business, touted the firm's platform and also emphasized the Bank of America partnership. “[Mr.] Munster believes being part of Bank of America means he can offer a broad lending platform, a full suite of private banking services and other capabilities that his clients need,” Ms. Sollitto said in the statement. Mr. Munster, 39, began his career at UBS Wealth Management and had been with Morgan Stanley since 2007, according to registration records. He is joined by his partners, advisers John Paffendorf and David Freeman. The Private Banking and Investment Group is comprised of around 150 teams who manage money for ultra-wealthy clients. Merrill Lynch had 14,085 advisers as of the end of last year.