First among the hires from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney were Herbert Scherer and Karen Mortimer, who joined Merrill's office in La Jolla, California. The pair - who together managed $204 million in client assets - had been at Citigroup for nine and six years respectively.

Secondly, Suzanne Latour, Ryan Wetsel, and Hillary Landon were recruited for Merrill’s San Diego, California office. Each of the three having been at Citigroup for four years, the team managed assets totalling $104 million.

The third team lured from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney comprised Robert Preston and Carla Lang, who together had $211 million in assets under management. Mr Preston joined Merrill’s Northbrook, Illinois office after 21 years at Morgan Stanley, while Ms Lang was a 28-year veteran at Citigroup.

Finally, Wells Fargo saw Charles Parry and Curtis Parry depart for Merrill’s California offices in Woodland Hills and Ventura Coast respectively. The pair had a combined $169 million in client assets under management.

In other moves reported in June, Merrill recruited two teams of financial advisors from UBS for its offices in Houston, Texas and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Recent months have seen Merrill aggressively recruiting from its US rivals, with advisors being poached for various offices throughout the US.