Morgan Stanley advisers overseeing $2.34 billion leave for Merrill Lynch

A multi-billion-dollar Morgan Stanley team of advisers has departed for Bank of America Merrill Lynch to set up a new private banking office that will help the brokerage firm serve the expanding technology community in the Pacific Northwest. The team oversaw $2.34 billion of assets at Morgan Stanley, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Christine Jockle, a spokesperson for Morgan Stanley, confirmed the departures but declined to comment further. The eight financial advisers who were hired from the rival Wall Street brokerage firm are Jason Weese, Mark Harris, Todd Kelly, Matt Bridge, Kristen Buxton, Alan Lubner, Jim Ferguson and Traci Bumpus. They will serve as founding members of Merrill Lynch's new private banking and investment group office in Bellevue, Wash. (More: See all the latest moves in the InvestmentNews Advisers on the Move database) “The expansion of technology sector, life sciences industry, and venture capital community has created substantial demand for private banking and wealth management services,” said Tracy Murphy, Merrill Lynch's regional managing director for the private banking and investment group in the Pacific Northwest. The firm's private banking and investment group, which is part of Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, is comprised of more than 175 highly-specialized teams focused on advising wealthy individuals, families and their businesses.