Merrill has recruited two advisor teams from rival wirehouses that together oversee $770 million in client assets, according to InvestmentNews. One team came from Morgan Stanley and the other from Wells Fargo.
The larger of the two is the Morgan Stanley group of Michael Scotto and Michael Chong, which managed about $530 million there, InvestmentNews reported. They joined Merrill's Park Avenue market in New York. They were accompanied by senior relationship manager Douglas Badstein and registered client associate Louis Aldorasi.
According to the report, Scotto has 25 years in the industry. He started on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and later moved to Morgan Stanley. Chong has 17 years of experience, beginning at Edward Jones before he also moved to Morgan Stanley.
The second move is from Wells Fargo. InvestmentNews reported that Jeff Chanin left that firm for Merrill's Boca Raton office. He is joined by registered client associate Tara Mirjah, and the pair oversee about $240 million. Chanin has more than three decades in the business, the outlet said.
The same InvestmentNews roundup noted additions at Raymond James, UBS and Prime Capital Financial, and described advisor recruiting as brisk across both wirehouse and independent channels. Only the Prime Capital hire is detailed in the material available here.
Prime Capital Financial, based in Overland Park, Kansas, hired Emil Ben-David as a wealth advisor, according to InvestmentNews. His most recent role was director of financial planning at a large registered investment advisor. He has more than 15 years of experience advising individuals and families on investment management, retirement, tax, estate and insurance planning. SEC records show he was most recently registered as an investment advisor affiliated with Edelman Financial Engines, the report said.
Merrill is a division of Bank of America. Wikipedia lists it as employing more than 14,000 financial advisors and managing $2.8 trillion in client assets.
The moves come as Merrill's wirehouse competitors are also recruiting. Wells Fargo's Wealth and Investment Management division reported its third straight quarter of hiring advisors with at least $100 million in combined production at their former firms, AdvisorHub reported. WealthManagement.com reported that Wells Fargo moved its national wealth division headquarters to West Palm Beach, Florida, in 2026.