Spilove splits Morgan Stanley to join UBS

Elaina Spilove, a top adviser with Morgan Stanley has joined UBS Financial Services Inc. Ms. Spilove oversaw $2.5 billion in assets and had production of $1.2 million at Morgan Stanley, according to UBS spokesman Gregg Rosenberg. She is based in UBS' Princeton, N.J., office, as part of the UBS Princeton Investment Consulting Group, led by L. Marc Shegoski and David Sears. A 34-year industry veteran, with 22 of those years as a legacy Smith Barney adviser, Ms. Spilove was a member of Morgan Stanley's Graystone Consulting unit, which serves institutional investment management consultants. Ms. Spilove was ranked No. 65 on Barron's Top Women Financial Advisors list this year. Mr. Shegoski was ranked No. 56 on Barron's 2013 Top 100 Financial Advisors listing, with about $7 billion in assets. “I had the opportunity to join the team here that has had a tremendous amount of experience in the institutional market, which complements the business I do,” Ms. Spilove said. She said her main focus is handling “large state liability funds, as well as pensions, foundations and endowments.” Liability funds are state-backed insurance funds for indemnifying against various risks, like storage-tank run-offs. “She's a big deal. Her name is well-known in the institutional consulting business — not just at Morgan Stanley but across the country,” said Frank LaRosa, president of Elite Recruiting & Consulting, who was involved in placing Ms. Spilove. Mr. LaRosa would not discuss details of the transition package UBS offered, but he said Ms. Spilove felt UBS was the best fit for her business. “She felt the senior leadership at UBS really gets the business that she's trying to grow and that UBS has the culture she really loved when she was part of Smith Barney,” he said. Morgan Stanley spokeswoman Christine Jockle confirmed the departure and said in an e-mail that Ms. Spilove had assets of $224 million, but that most of the assets UBS is attributing to her were held in partnerships with other advisers who are not leaving Morgan Stanley.