The dust is yet to settle for Merrill in DC. Last week they lost a $600M team, today Mikail Qazi and Tim Martin have decided to join UBS Private Wealth.
Mikail is another disenchanted broker who spent the last 16 years at Merrill building his practice to over $4.2M on $500M and has been named Forbes’s best-in-state advisor for several years. He was also featured in the exclusive Next-Gen Advisors list. Both graduated in the top 1% of their classes and have earned certifications in CRPC®, CIMA®, and CFP®.
Qazi and Martin focused on advising Private Wealth Clients and will report to Julie Fox the regional director for UBS’ Private Wealth Division in the DC market.
Roger Gershman, who has been the recruiter of choice for the Merrill Advisors looking to leave said “it’s time the firm take a good look in the mirror. There are several other Mikail’s, high-caliber, exemplary advisors looking to leave especially to UBS. We were able to execute a deal with no hurdles.”
The Gershman Group, with over 50 years of wealth advisory recruiting. As a family company, Norman Gershman founded the firm after a 25-year career at Merrill Lynch.
“Our goal is never to urge a team to leave their current firm as the first option but only as a Plan B. Evaluating their current firm is an important part of the process.” Says Roger Gershman, the firm’s CEO who, like his dad, spent 25 years as an advisor at prestigious firms like Hambrecht & Quist and UBS PWM.
The direction of BoA has left Merrill’s herd at odds with the firm as they shift the company into a bank-centered culture. Proven by statements from Andy Sieg and the limited signings by Merrill.
