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UBS Wealth Management Americas Makes Slew Of Hires
Eliane Chavagnon
31 January 2012
UBS Wealth Management Americas
has recruited eight groups, as well as a string of individual financial
advisors, bolstering nine of its offices nationwide and marking its
second hiring spree of the month. The Baldwin, Naples and Associates group – formerly of Bank of
America Merrill Lynch - is led by Margaret Baldwin in the Newport, CA
office and Michael Naples in the Pasadena, CA office. The team brings to
UBS a production of approximately $2.4 million and assets under
management of over $470 million. Baldwin joins as senior vice president and will report to Ron Meraz,
while Naples, who also joins as senior vice president, reports to Donald
Gorsch. Also joining the Newport Beach office is the Reckinger Loynes Group,
also from Merrill Lynch. The group is led by Robert Reckinger, senior
vice president, and James Loynes, and has a production of approximately
$1.3 million and AuM of $387 million. Reckinger and Loynes will report
to Meraz. Meanwhile, the Sage Group has joined the firm’s Salt Lake City, UT
office. The team, which will report to branch manager Wendi Eckardt,
joins from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. The group consists of Terri
Yeckley and Allison Smooth as senior vice presidents of investments, as
well as Elizabeth Nielson as a financial advisor. The Swiss firm has also added the Kuchta Curole Group to its New
Orleans, LA branch, with a production of approximately $2.4 million and
AuM of $650 million. The four-person team consists of Jacque Kuchta, senior vice president
of investments, Scott Curole as a financial advisor, and Belinda Laws
and Libby Buckland as senior registered client service associates. They
join from Merrill Lynch and will report to branch manager Mark Poole. Two groups have joined the Beaumont, TX office. The PKC Financial
Group is led by senior vice presidents of investments Mike Persia and
Bradford Klein, while the Ohmstede-Sheridan Financial Group is led by
Christopher Ohmstede and Jean Sheridan. Combined, the groups bring an aggregate production of $3.8 million
and AuM of more than $600 million. The teams, which join from Merrill
Lynch, will report to branch manager Craig Young. Additionally, the firm has hired Marc Hagger and Ricardo Lima for its
Dallas, TX office. Both Hagger and Lima latterly worked at Morgan
Stanley Smith Barney and have been appointed vice president at UBS.
Together, they bring a total production value of $1.1 million, with
nearly $230 million in AuM. In other moves, Bruce Smith joins the firm’s Atlanta, GA office as
senior vice president of investments. Smith brings to the firm a
production of approximately $1.95 million and AuM of over $100 million.
He joins from Merrill Lynch and will report to director Jerry Johnson. Meanwhile, UBS has ramped up its Troy, MI base, adding John Meldrum
as senior vice president of investments. Meldrum, who joins from Merrill
Lynch, brings with him a production of nearly $1.6 million and AuM of
more than $119 million. He will report to director Michael Gatewood. Further individual appointments are that of Maria Tanzola and Carolyn
Finer, who, as a team, join the firm’s Manasquan private wealth
division in New Jersey as senior vice presidents of investments. Tanzola
and Finer bring an aggregate production of approximately $1.2 million
and AuM of $180 million. The pair join from Merrill Lynch’s private bank
and will report to area manager Chris Amo. At the same time, Jamie Rosica and Alex DiMartini have joined the
Melville, NY office from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, bringing with them
a combined production of approximately $1.2 million and AuM of over
$119 million. Rosica and DiMartini - who both join as a senior vice
president of investments - will report to branch manager Robert Limmer. The remaining appointment is that of Lucie Sabella, who joins UBS’
Fort Lauderdale, FL office. Sabella, who is senior vice president of
investments, brings a production of more than $1 million and AuM of more
than $117 million. She joins with junior partner Megan MacGowan from
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and will report to branch manager Lane
Strumlauf. In related news, the firm also added two Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
advisory teams to its New Jersey and California offices earlier this
month. Mario Afram, Carl Ekroth and Harish Jashanani joined the firm’s
Paramus, NJ office, bringing a production of around $1.4 million and AuM
of around $200 million.