Over a yr after leaving thundering herd as a part of a reorganization, former Merrill Lynch Non-public Wealth regional chief Linda A. Patel has returned to administration at J.P. Morgan Advisors, the New York financial institution’s conventional brokerage unit.
Linda A. Patel, who beforehand oversaw Merrill’s ultra-high internet price brokers in Texas, joined J.P. Morgan Advisors as head of its Southeast territory primarily based in Palm Seaside Gardens, Florida, based on an announcement on Tuesday.
Patel oversees round 80 advisors in Palm Seaside Gardens, Palm Seaside, Boca Raton, Miami and Atlanta, based on the announcement.
She reviews to J.P. Morgan Advisors Head Mollie Colavita and succeeds Janet Sweeney, a 40-year trade veteran who retired earlier this yr. Sweeny had joined J.P. Morgan by its 2023 acquisition of First Republic Financial institution’s wealth unit.
The appointment comes just a little over per week after two of J.P. Morgan’s largest groups, who had generated $130 million in mixed income from $18.6 billion in belongings, left to launch RIA Latigo Peak Companions primarily based in Palm Seaside Gardens.
“The Southeast continues to draw people, households and companies with more and more complicated monetary wants – creating vital alternative for us to construct on our energy within the area and develop alongside our purchasers,” Colavita stated in an announcement.
Patel was considered one of two Merrill Non-public Wealth leaders who left in July 2025 because the agency consolidated six areas to 4. She had led its Texas area since 2018 after overseeing workplaces in Thousand Oaks, California.
Patel began her profession at UBS’s PaineWebber predecessor in 1998 and joined Merrill by a predecessor later that yr, based on BrokerCheck. She didn’t reply to a request for remark despatched by social media.
J.P. Morgan Advisors has round 600 advisors and stays a small fraction of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s wealth enterprise. Colavita, a former senior government at Merrill Non-public Wealth, took excessive job at J.P. Morgan Advisors in October 2025 following the retirement of Phil Sieg, who was as soon as head of Merrill Non-public Wealth.
A Merrill spokesperson didn’t instantly return a request for remark.