READ NOWH1 2026, State of Advisor Movement

Winthrop & Co.

Advisor Moves · Updated Daily

Merrill Lynch advisor departures

Merrill's advisor movement tells the wirehouse story in miniature: headline headcount holds steady through trainee classes while experienced teams, including billion-dollar groups, continue to depart for regionals, boutiques, and independence. This tracker logs reported departures as they happen. Winthrop & Co.'s H1 2026 research measured Merrill at a net minus 255 producing advisors for the half.

36
Tracked departures
$31B
Disclosed AUM
15
Distinct destinations
Oct 12, 2026
Latest move
DateTeam / AdvisorsDestinationReported AUMSource
Oct 12, 2026The Singer Maxey Wealth Management (Andrew Singer, Storm Maxey; Bend, OR)Raymond James (RJ&A)$450MAdvisorHub
Sep 25, 2026Pham Yip Wealth Partners (John Pham, Jimmy Yip, Leslie Vinoya, Kimberly Russell, Randall Bane; Palo Alto and San Jose, CA)UBS$575MAdvisorHub
Sep 25, 2026Colin Gates (Boca Raton, FL)Ameriprise (branch channel)$120M+InvestmentNews
Sep 11, 2026Michael Rogala (Houston, TX)Raymond James (Alex. Brown, RJ&A)$550MInvestmentNews
Sep 4, 2026The Hall Wealth Management Group (Hall; Bellevue, WA)UBS$500MYahoo Finance
Aug 31, 2026Jeff Sharpe, Scott TansleySeventy2 CapitalUndisclosedcitybiz
Aug 17, 2026Foreman Rial Group (Foreman, Rial; Kirkland, WA)Morgan Stanley$750MAdvisorHub
Aug 7, 2026Jones Wealth Partners (Columbus, OH)Rockefeller$2.1BBarron's
Aug 6, 2026Felix A. Erbring (Austin, TX)Wells Fargo$400MAdvisorHub
Jul 20, 2026Cosby, Powell & Associates (Cosby, Powell; Birmingham, AL)Morgan Stanley$460MAdvisorHub
Jun 18, 2026Robbins & Hooper (Colby Robbins, Brock Hooper; Nashville, TN)UBS Wealth Management$344MUBS release (Investing News Network)
Jun 10, 2026Fundamentum Advisors (Gabriel, Burns, Johnson; Atlanta, GA)Raymond James & Associates$408MFinancial Advisor IQ
Jun 8, 2026Valen Private Capital (John Durham; Paoli, PA)Sanctuary Wealth (hybrid RIA)$477MConnect Money
May 28, 2026Alex Watts (Atlanta, GA)NewEdge WealthUndisclosedAlternatives Watch
May 22, 2026Ardalan Wealth Management Group (Shyan Ardalan; Los Angeles, CA)Morgan Stanley$830MAdvisorHub
May 13, 2026Twin Harbors Private Wealth (Wang, Ilg, Rizzo, Streim, Napolitano; Melville, NY)Wells Fargo FiNet$1.4BInvestmentNews
Apr 24, 2026Tyler Bybee Lane Morales Group, Merrill Private Wealth (Houston, TX)Rockefeller Global Family Office (Post Oak Wealth Partners)$3.0BAdvisorHub
Apr 17, 2026Soteris Private Wealth (Erickson, Montierth)Sanctuary Wealth (independent)$800MWealthManagement.com
Apr 10, 2026Opt Wealth Management (Kyle Vasel, Chicago)Sanctuary Wealth (independent)$260MWealthManagement.com
Apr 10, 2026Montesa Wealth Management (A.J. Montesa; High Point, NC)Concurrent Investment Advisors (hybrid RIA)$159MWealthManagement.com
Mar 31, 2026Clay Young (37-yr veteran)UBS (South Market)$1.0BInvestmentNews
Mar 27, 2026Glenn Rodriguez (Orlando area, FL)Cyndeo Wealth Partners (Dynasty network RIA)$235MWealthManagement.com
Feb 20, 2026Warren-Fantano Wealth Management (Peni Warren, Chris Fantano; Lewes and Middletown, DE)Janney Montgomery Scott$1.0B+WealthManagement.com
Feb 10, 2026Mark Lilley, Gabriel Trigo (San Juan, PR)UBS$1.0BInvestmentNews
Jan 30, 2026Thrift Private Wealth (Garrett Thrift, Kara Burt, Blake Saulsbury, Wade Oursler; Easton, MD)Raymond James & Associates$1.0BWealthManagement.com
Jan 16, 2026Louis Berlin, Mark Hales, Timothy Taraba (Newport Beach, CA)Wells Fargo Advisors$800MAdvisorHub
Jan 7, 2026Infinity Private Wealth (Palermo, Frangas + 9)Wells Fargo FiNet$1.8BInvestmentNews
Nov 17, 2025Munster Freeman GroupWells Fargo Advisors$3.0BTrade reporting
Oct 1, 2025Lewkowitz-Gersten Wealth Management GroupMorgan Stanley (52nd St, NYC)~$1.0BTrade reporting
Oct 1, 2025Hyeon Kang Team (Bellevue, WA)Wells Fargo (Private Client Group)$1.0BTrade reporting
Oct 1, 2025Ascend Private Wealth Partners (Barnett, Ament)Kestra Private Wealth Services$866MTrade reporting
Sep 5, 2025Matthew J. Smith (Birmingham, AL)Morgan Stanley$305MAdvisorHub
Sep 1, 2025OpenArc Corporate Advisory (formerly GCIAS)Independent RIA (Dynasty / Schwab)$129BTrade reporting
Aug 1, 2025Longleaf Capital Group (Thornell, Singletary, Lee)Arkadios Capital$2.0BTrade reporting
Aug 1, 2025WR Group (Scott Rosenblum, NYC)Rockefeller Global Family Office$400MTrade reporting
Jun 1, 2025Sprenkle Stacy Wealth Management GroupMorgan Stanley Private Wealth$2.0BTrade reporting

Moves are logged from trade press and public announcements, linked to their source where one was captured. AUM appears only where the original reporting disclosed it. This tracker records reported moves; it is not a census of every registration change.

FAQ

Merrill Lynch departures, answered

  • How many advisors have left Merrill Lynch recently?+
    This tracker currently logs 36 reported departures of advisors and teams from Merrill Lynch, with the most recent on Oct 12, 2026. It captures publicly reported moves rather than every registration change; Winthrop & Co.'s State of Advisor Movement report measures the complete producing-advisor picture from registered-rep data.
  • Where do departing Merrill Lynch advisors go?+
    Across the moves tracked here, the most frequent destinations are Morgan Stanley (6), Wells Fargo (6), UBS (5). Destinations span rival employee-model firms, regionals, independent broker-dealers, and RIAs; the full destination-channel analysis is in the State of Advisor Movement report.
  • How current and reliable is this tracker?+
    Entries are collected daily from trade press and public announcements, deduplicated, and linked to their source where one was captured. Assets under management are listed only when the reporting disclosed them; 34 of the 36 tracked moves since 2025 disclose AUM, and 33 of them total roughly $31B; the other one, too large to compare with the rest, is listed in the table but left out of the total. The tracker was last updated Oct 13, 2026.

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