The Wright Ramage Wealth Management Group has joined the firm’s Albany, NY office. The team is led by Robert Wright, senior portfolio manager, and Barry Ramage, financial advisor. The team brings to the firm more than $380 million in assets under management and will report to Robert Lane, executive director and branch manager, UBS said in a statement late yesterday. The group joins UBS WMA from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where Wright was formerly the branch manager of that firm’s Hudson, NY branch.

William Goldberg has joined WMA’s operations in Houston, TX office as senior vice president-investments. Goldberg joins UBS WMA from Alliance Bernstein. He will report to Raymond Dinunzio, managing director.

Ellentuck Wealth Management Group joins the firm’s Florham Park, NJ office. The team, led by Todd Ellentuck, brings with it approximately $3.4 million in production and $340 million in assets under management. Ellentuck joins as managing director.

Joining from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the team will report to Michael Price, complex director.

The Pierce/Kyle Group, led by senior vice presidents Wallace Kyle and Frederick Pierce, also joins WMA’s Florham Park, NJ office. The team brings with it a production of more than $1.8 million and assets under management of approximately $236 million. The team joins from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and will report to Michael Price, complex director. Another group, the Palumbo, Short, D'Amato and Dixon team, has also joined this office in Florham Park. It brings with it a production of around $4 million and assets under management of approximately $675 million. The group joins from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, and consists of the following members: Richard Palumbo, senior vice president; Robert Short, senior vice president; Robert D’Amato, senior vice president; James Dixon, senior vice president.

The movement of teams underscores how competition for talent among wealth management firms, such as wirehouses, remains strong. As a share of the overall wealth market, however, some analysts predict wirehouses will lose some ground. The share is expected to fall to 42 per cent in 2014 from 45 per cent in 2010, Cerulli Associates said in a recent report. The largest firms, such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Wells Fargo, and UBS, will see their share of the total market erode from a peak of 56 per cent in 2007. Private client groups overtook wirehouses as the biggest wealth management players in 2010, holding 47 per cent, or almost $2.2 trillion of assets. The 45 per cent stake held by wirehouses equated to $2.1 trillion.