Merrill hires 7 advisers with $813 mln in assets

Merrill Lynch, the second largest U.S. brokerage by assets and financial advisers, on Monday said it hired seven new advisers overseeing more than $800 million in combined client assets.

Merrill, a unit of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), added Tony Murphy and Lewis Matthews to its Walnut Creek, California, office from Wells Fargo Advisors (WFC.N). The duo managed $342.3 million in assets and generated $1.2 million in revenue during the past year.

Also joining is the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, team of Bernard Orbach, Erik Vatter and Matthew Groff from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, who together oversaw $225.7 million in client assets and generated $2.1 million of commissions and fees.

Michael Borza joined Merrill's Virginia Beach, Virginia, office from UBS Wealth Management Americas (UBSN.VX), where he managed $174.3 million in assets and produced $1.01 million of revenue.

Merrill last week also recruited Morgan Stanley Smith Barney's (MS.N) (C.N) James Wolslager in Austin, Texas, adding a broker with $70.9 million in assets and $1.15 million in production.