Merrill Lynch has appointed Tom Fickinger as head of financial advisor strategy and has strengthened its wealth advisory team with two hires.

Fickinger was most recently the managing director of the New Jersey region for Merrill Lynch, a role he will continue until a successor is found. Fickinger has also held roles as first vice president, head of business development in investor strategies in New York City and head of financial planning in Princeton.

In his newly-created role Fickinger will have overall responsibility for driving strategic initiatives around advisor and team practices with a focus on the practice management development program. He will partner closely with the US wealth management team. Fickinger reports to John Hogarty and Lyle LaMothe; he will serve as a member of the USWM executive committee.

The firm has also hired Jerome Bookstein and Adam Bornstein from UBS Wealth Management Americas as wealth advisors in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

The pair previously oversaw $170 million of client assets and generated $1 million in annual fees and commissions, according to Reuters.