Morgan Stanley Woos Ex-First Republic Broker, Loses to UBS in California
In two separate moves in California, Morgan Stanley gained a former First Republic broker but lost to UBS Wealth Management USA.
In the larger move, Gregory G. Zappas joined Morgan Stanley from JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s brokerage unit on January 5 in Newport Beach, California, according to registration records. Zappas had produced $2 million in annual revenue from $500 million in client assets when he left UBS for First Republic, which was acquired by JPMorgan in May.
Zappas joined Morgan Stanley’s private wealth management unit, which manages money for ultra-wealthy customers and has over $619 billion in client assets, according to the site. He began his brokerage career in 1997 with a ten-year stint at U.S. Trust and spent another four years at Merrill Lynch before joining UBS in 2011, according to BrokerCheck.
Zappas did not respond to requests for comment, and a Morgan Stanley spokesperson declined to comment. Zappas also considered joining Wells Fargo Advisors but Morgan Stanley stepped in quickly with a better “showing,” according to a source familiar with the move.
Attrition of former First Republic brokers has slowed since JPMorgan’s takeover. But some are still weighing offers as they are being integrated into J.P. Morgan in waves and are encountering red tape typical of bank-owned firms, according to Roger Gershman, an industry recruiter with The Gershman Group.
“First Republic advisors are beginning to realize the honeymoon is over,” said Gershman, who has recruited from J.P. Morgan for its rivals.
Separately, another former First Republic émigré, Thomas E. Beaty, joined Citizens Financial Group from J.P. Morgan in San Francisco, a spokesperson for Citizens confirmed. He is an ultra-high net worth senior advisor at the firm’s Clarfeld Citizens Private Wealth unit, the spokesperson said.
As a “wealth advisor” at First Republic, Beaty, who has 25 years of experience, had worked in a business development role sourcing customers. He did not respond to a request for comment sent through social media.
Beaty worked at Merrill and its Banc of America predecessor as well as City National Securities, Deutsche Investment Management and Lincoln Financial before joining First Republic in 2010, according to BrokerCheck.
Citizens has since been aggressively hiring former relationship managers from the defunct bank for a new private banking unit that is separate from Clarfeld. In December, it hired Thomas Metzger, First Republic’s former head of recruiting, to recruit veteran brokers to service customers those relationship managers were bringing to Citizens bank.
A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment on both moves and on Gershman’s remarks. Marianne Lake, JPMorgan’s consumer and community-banking co-head, has said it has retained 90% of First Republic’s clients at the consumer bank and that results of the integration so far “outperform the deal model.”
Additionally, UBS nabbed from Morgan Stanley Irvine, California-based Steve Nassau and client associate Kristin Landis, according to an announcement. Nassau had managed $227 million in assets and generated around $1.3 million in revenue, according to a source familiar with his practice.
Nassau reports to UBS’s Irvine Market Director Howard Woo and will be part of its Pacific Desert market, according to the announcement.
A spokesperson for Morgan Stanlely confirmed the departure. Nassau did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent through LinkedIn.
Nassau started his career at Morgan Stanley’s E.F. Hutton & Co. predecessor in 1980. He skipped to Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. in 1984 but left in 1989—the year before its bankruptcy—to join UBS predecessor Kidder, Peabody & Co. He rejoined Morgan Stanley in 1992 by way of a Smith Barney predecessor, according to BrokerCheck.
