August 16, 2021
Provo, Utah.
A massive team from Merrill Lynch in Provo, Utah, led by the state’s senior financial advisor, has left the wirehouse for rival Morgan Stanley, according to sources familiar with the move.
Dane Runia, who ranked first on Forbes’ Best-in-State Financial Advisers 2021 and Financial Planning’s Top 40 Under 40 list in 2021, arrived on Monday with his team, The Runia Group, to Morgan Stanley, was part of Merrill’s Private Wealth Management division for very wealthy clients.
Runia, who joined his father at Merrill in 2006 after graduating from Brigham Young University, had approximately $ 2.95 billion in client assets under management and had annual sales of nearly $ 10.7 million according to registration records and financial planning list. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent on social media.
A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman confirmed the hiring but declined further comments.
The Runia team’s move marks another big name departure from Thundering Herd, which in 2017 stopped hiring seasoned brokers to start internal growth programs. It comes after Merrill President Andy Sieg said last month that he was focusing on the “competitive wear and tear” issue. As part of another major private wealth move, Merrill saw a $ 11.2 million private wealth team in New York City to UBS last month.
A Merrill spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the Runia team’s wear and tear or relocation.
Runia’s father, R. Scott Runia, a 36-year-old Merrill employee who retired under Merrill’s customer transition program in 2019, is also expected to rejoin the Morgan Stanley team, according to a source close to the team.
The elder Runia left Merrill to serve a three-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Australia, Dane Runia said in a 2019 interview with Financial Planning. Scott was not available for comment on his plans or whether any non-compete agreements he had signed in the CTP would remain in effect.
According to the former team’s website, Runia’s team at Merrill consisted of three client employees, an investment management specialist, and a senior business manager.
“Our team has been with Merrill since 1982 – a continuity that increases our effectiveness in getting things done,” Dane Runia wrote on his LinkedIn profile. “We are able to anticipate the problems that business owners, entrepreneurs, executives, professional athletes and nonprofits will face.”
The move also underscores Morgan Stanley’s aggressive mindset, backed by offers that recruiters say hit 325% of the top 12’s revenue for top talent, including upfront and deferred bonuses.
Much of Morgan Stanley’s recent recruitment gains came at the expense of Merrill, including a 27-year-old Washington DC employee who led a $ 4.5 million production team focused on stock plans and a $ 3 million team under the direction of a production manager in Sea Belt, New Jersey.
In the meantime, Merrill has stepped up its loyalty efforts, including finding temporary injunctions against churning brokers and providing teams of “customer experience specialists” who call clients after they exit brokers to introduce them to a new Merrill broker and offer fee discounts.
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