The brokerage firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co has added Bruce
Gould from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management to its New York-based private client
group, Reuters has reported. 

Gould managed $374 million in client assets at Morgan
Stanley and joined Stifel's Garden City office as a senior vice president of
investments.

The firm had not responded to a request from Family Wealth Report to confirm the move
at the time of publication.

Gould has worked in the financial advice industry
for over four decades and was an advisor at Citigroup’s Smith Barney prior to
joining Morgan Stanley, the report says.

In related news, last month Stifel brought in Michael Wallace
and Todd Belfiore from UBS to launch a new private client office in Tampa, FL (view details here).

Meanwhile, Stifel has also entered into a definitive
agreement to acquire Acacia Federal Savings Bank, a one-branch community bank
with approximately $745 million in total assets as of March 31, 2013.

According to Ronald Kruszewski, chairman, president and chief
executive of Stifel, the acquisition is “consistent with Stifel Bank’s
long-term strategy to principally serve our global wealth management business
in a low risk, profitable manner.” The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and
customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in December 2013. Terms
of the transaction were not disclosed.

Stifel, Nicolaus & Co is a subsidiary of St Louis,
MO-based Stifel Financial.