California-based Johnston Group joins Merrill's private-banking platform. The Johnston Group, formerly an Irvine, Calif.-based team on
Smith Barney's Citi Family Office platform, has joined the
Merrill Lynch's
Private Banking and Investment Group in Newport Beach, Calif. The group, which is led by Michael Johnston, reports to Michael Rogers, director of Merrill's private-banking business in the western U.S.

"Given the increasingly sophisticated challenges that ultra-affluent families face, we are making a commitment to further build our expertise in meeting the unique financial needs of our clients," says Rogers. "We are delighted to welcome a group of highly respected wealth-management professionals like Michael Johnston and his team."

Seven

In addition to Johnston, the Johnston Group consists of advisors John Arnold and Michael Mittman, who are partners of the team, and a four-member support squad.

Johnston, who joined Citi from Banc of America Securities in 2001, has been recognized as a top advisor by Barron's, Worth and Wealth magazines.

Arnold, who has worked with Johnston for the past 12 years, specializes in equity-trading strategies, restricted-stock transactions, and hedging and monetization strategies for low-basis stock positions as well as focusing on specialty lending and insurance evaluations as part of client families overall wealth strategies.

Mittman, who began his career at
Franklin Templeton, joined the Johnston group in 1999. He specializes in analyzing the equity and fixed income using qualitative, quantitative, and technical data on worldwide markets, asset classes, industry sectors and companies.

Merrill's Global Private Client division has about 16,000 advisors in 680 offices. Its private-banking arm provides banking, trust and investment-consulting services to ultra-high-net-worth families and individuals. -FWR

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