Morgan Stanley nabs 3 brokers with $1.3 billion in assets

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has picked up almost $1.3 billion in recruited assets from a recent round of hiring. The hires include a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch duo who managed some $1.1 billion in assets and generated about $3.5 million in annual revenue. The two advisers, Michael Torpey and Charles Malamut, moved to Morgan Stanley's Northfield, N.J., office at the end of August and report to complex manager Chris Shaw. (See who else has joined Morgan Stanley.) Mr. Torpey had been with Merrill Lynch since 2008, according to registration records with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. Mr. Malamut had spent his career at Merrill Lynch, having joined in 1986, Finra records show. In Westport, Conn., Morgan Stanley picked up a former J.P. Morgan Securities broker, Jon Garofalo, who also came onboard at the end of August. Mr. Garofalo had about $175 million in assets and produced about $1.5 million in annual revenue for his previous firm. He began his career in 1998 and served at a number of brokerages before joining J.P. Morgan Securities in 2012, according to Finra records. Mr. Garofalo will report to branch manager Patrick Tiani. Morgan Stanley reported having 16,316 advisers at the end of June, down slightly from second-quarter 2013, when it had 16,321.