Morgan Stanley isn’t grabbing all of the recruiting headlines in wealth management these days, but their trajectory is worth noting. Their latest win in Dallas is notable given the competitive nature of the bidding versus rivals old and new.
The terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed but landing a Merrill team doing $5.5M in annual production these days is no small feat. Merrill may be the most heavily recruited ‘away’ firm on the street right now, so every ML situation is competitive.
The group that migrated to Morgan Stanley in Dallas is captained by 39-year vet John Calandro along with his brother and son, Kevin Calandro, and Rob Calandro. They manage more than $720 million in client assets and brought with them admin staff Shea Self and Jonathan Hicks as well as Redding May.
Now here is the competitive bidding part of it – this was a three-horse race. UBS and Rockefeller were both heavy contenders for this team’s services and pushed their deals higher.
A source close to the negotiations had this to say, “each firm had pushed their deals and deal structures to the limit and well past 300%, ML teams are commanding premiums right now.”
And there is the money line: Merrill teams are commanding premiums right now. Including deferred comp balances, the Morgan Stanley deal breached the 350% number. Cha-Ching!!
Morgan Stanley will continue to be aggressive and maybe the ‘belle of the ball’ for the second half of 2021. Get your popcorn ready.
