With big new team, Morgan Stanley adds horses

Morgan Stanley has landed a $1.5 billion team from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC in the latest in a series of high-profile acquisitions. Scott Siegel, a Barron's top 1,000 adviser, and his team of Mehmet Kirdar, Michael O'Hara and Joseph Carmody, have joined Morgan Stanley's New York City office, the company announced last Tuesday. The team moved from J.P. Morgan Aug. 23, with the exception of Mr. Carmody, who was recruited from UBS Financial Services Inc. Known as the SKOC team at Morgan Stanley, the group has $6.1 million of trailing 12-month production, according to the firm. Doug Morris, a J.P. Morgan spokesman, declined to comment. Mr. Siegel and his branch manager, Michael Simeone, were not available last week. A March Barron's profile said Mr. Siegel manages balanced portfolios and favors high-yield bonds of five to eight years, together with dividend and value stocks.

Expanding the ranks

Also on Aug. 23, Morgan Stanley landed Atlanta-based Jason Moss, a former Bank of America Merrill Lynch broker with $130 million in assets, in addition to the Coral Gables, Fla., team of Al Maulini and Joseph Torano, who managed $121 million at HSBC Securities Inc. And on Aug. 22, Morgan picked up brothers Frank and Donald Marano from Raymond James Financial Services Inc. The Allentown, Pa., duo manages $100 million.