# Morgan Stanley adds Merrill team with $1.5 billion in Rancho Santa Fe

URL: https://www.financialadvsr.com/article/morgan-stanley-adds-merrill-team-with-1-5-billion-in-rancho-santa-728213
Published: November 11, 2026
By: Grant Whitmore, Moves Correspondent
Section: Moves
Publisher: Financial ADVSR (https://www.financialadvsr.com)

AdvisorHub reported that a Merrill team with $1.5 billion in assets moved to Morgan Stanley, the latest in a run of recent Merrill-to-Morgan Stanley team moves.

AdvisorHub reported that Morgan Stanley has hired a Merrill team managing $1.5 billion in assets, based in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The group is called Steelman Aguirre Private Wealth Management Group. Our research found no press release from Morgan Stanley or Merrill announcing the move, so the details below rest on AdvisorHub's reporting and the public records it cites.

According to AdvisorHub, the team is led by Michael J. Steelman and Eric A. Aguirre, a detail it attributes to a source close to the move. Registration records cited by the outlet show the team joined Morgan Stanley on November 3, 2026. BrokerCheck records cited by AdvisorHub show Steelman first registered with UBS Wealth Management USA in 1998 and with Merrill beginning in 2008.

AdvisorHub describes the hire as the latest in a series. The outlet says it follows two other recent Merrill-to-Morgan Stanley team moves that together total about $9 billion. Earlier in November, AdvisorHub reported that a Merrill team managing $5.9 billion, according to Morgan Stanley's website, joined the firm in Newport Beach, California. In late October, AdvisorHub also covered a group of three ex-Merrill advisors and two advisors from RBC Wealth Management-U.S. that came together as a $3 billion business at Morgan Stanley in San Francisco, with Antonio P. daRoza, who managed $1.8 billion, at its center.

The receiving business is Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, which Wikipedia says was formed in 2009 from the Smith Barney combination with Citigroup. The parent, Morgan Stanley, was founded in 1935 by former J.P. Morgan employees and is listed on the NYSE under MS, according to Wikipedia. Merrill is the wealth management arm of Bank of America. According to AdvisorHub, Merrill co-president Lindsay Hans characterized the recruits as experienced, well-credentialed advisors, and would not put a number on the assets they brought over. AdvisorHub also noted that Merrill no longer breaks out its advisor headcount.

Recruiting costs are part of the backdrop. AdvisorHub, citing Morgan Stanley's annual report filed with the SEC in a separate article, said the balance of the firm's forgivable recruiting loans grew by $520 million, or 12%, to almost $4.9 billion in 2025. That figure is a loan balance, not assets under management. The sources do not say how the Rancho Santa Fe team's arrival will affect Morgan Stanley's loan balance, and no further steps in the team's transition were reported.

Key facts:
- Team managing $1.5 billion in assets, per AdvisorHub, based in Rancho Santa Fe, California
- Team joined Morgan Stanley on November 3, 2026, per registration records cited by AdvisorHub
- Steelman first registered with UBS Wealth Management USA in 1998 and with Merrill from 2008, per BrokerCheck
- Morgan Stanley forgivable recruiting loan balance rose $520 million to nearly $4.9 billion in 2025, per its SEC annual report

Why it matters: For advisors weighing a move, forgivable recruiting loans are one of the terms that shape how a wirehouse competes for a team, so changes in these balances are read closely by recruiters. Team leaders should note that a series of Merrill-to-Morgan Stanley moves in recent weeks is drawing attention to how these transitions are structured. Firm leaders at both wirehouses will be watching whether this run of team hires continues.

Sources:
- AdvisorHub: https://www.advisorhub.com/morgan-stanley-extends-merrill-recruiting-streak-with-1-5b-california-team/
- investmentnews.com: https://www.investmentnews.com/wirehouses/merrill-adds-advisors-managing-over-15b-in-client-assets/257429
- advisorhub.com: https://www.advisorhub.com/morgan-stanley-scoops-up-merrill-team-managing-nearly-6b-in-california/
- advisorhub.com: https://www.advisorhub.com/merrill-hires-advisors-managing-over-1-5-bln-combined-from-morgan-stanley-wells/
- advisorhub.com: https://www.advisorhub.com/merrill-hires-morgan-stanley-team-managing-900-million-in-chicago/
- getwarmer.com: https://www.getwarmer.com/firms/morgan-stanley/offices/newport-beach-ca-800-newport-center-drive