Merrill, RBC Advisors With $3B Mixed Crew Up at Morgan Stanley

Three Merrill Lynch advisors and two from RBC Wealth Administration-U.S. joined forces at Morgan Stanley to create a bunch managing greater than $three billion in belongings, in keeping with a supply near the hiring agency. 

The Bell Coast Group is led by Antonio P. daRoza, Timothy J. Cecchin, Travis A. Townsend, Adam M. Cline and Sharam F. Pavri, in keeping with the supply. They joined Morgan Stanley on Friday in San Francisco together with six help employees.

DaRoza, Cline and Pavri joined from Merrill however weren’t on a group collectively, in keeping with registration information and their former agency web sites. DaRoza, who was with Merrill’s personal wealth unit serving ultra-rich purchasers, had overseen round $1.eight billion, in keeping with a Forbes rating this yr. 

Cline, who was not a part of Merrill’s personal wealth phase, oversaw round $622 million, in keeping with a Forbes next-gen advisors rating. Pavri didn’t look like ranked. 

Cecchin and Townsend led an eponymous group at RBC. That they had $476 million in belongings, in keeping with Forbes.

Members of the group didn’t reply to requests for remark despatched by means of social media. It was not instantly clear how they knew one another though 4 of the 5 had beforehand labored at Morgan Stanley or its Smith Barney predecessor.

DaRoza began his profession with Morgan Stanley’s Lehman Brothers predecessor in 1990, in keeping with BrokerCheck. He moved to Merrill in 2011. 

DaRoza’s BrokerCheck reveals one latest buyer declare, a dispute from July 2025 that settled for $850,000 over allegations of negligence, breach of fiduciary responsibility and failure to oversee tied to a non-annuity insurance coverage product. The disclosure doesn’t specify the damages that have been requested. 

Pavri first registered 9 years in the past with Morgan Stanley and labored at JPMorgan Chase & Co. earlier than becoming a member of Merrill in 2023. Cline began his profession with Merrill in 2011, in keeping with BrokerCheck. 

Cecchin began with H&R Block in 1998 and likewise labored at Morgan Stanley’s Smith Barney predecessor earlier than transferring to Merrill in 2011 after which RBC in 2018, in keeping with BrokerCheck. Townsend first joined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in 2010 and adopted the identical path as Cecchin to RBC.

A Merrill spokesperson declined to remark. 

Morgan Stanley has been an opportunistic recruiter whilst executives downplay the function of veteran dealer hiring and headcount to its long-term development. The agency’s recruiting mortgage balances have climbed again over a 2017 high-water mark of $5 billion. 

Merrill has additionally revived recruiting efforts, and the 2 have traded a number of massive groups. In September, Merrill snagged a Morgan Stanley personal wealth group managing $1.2 billion in Virginia. Within the different path, Morgan Stanley in August scooped a Merrill group with $750 million in Washington. 

A spokesperson for RBC, which has round 2,200 advisors and $769 billion in belongings below administration and advisement, didn’t reply to a request for remark. The agency for its half final month reeled in a group managing $1 billion in belongings at UBS Wealth Administration USA in Pennsylvania. 

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