JPMorgan turns heads after signing powerhouse $28B team from Merrill

investmentnews.com:

JPMorgan Chase’s wealth management unit has signed on a Merrill Lynch advisor team that managed $28 billion in client assets, potentially marking the largest advisor recruiting move in wealth management history.

Reportedly generating $10 million in annual revenue, the powerhouse the Gray-Polverini team is led by Eric Gray and Lance Polverini. They have joined J.P. Morgan Wealth Management in Los Angeles, bringing along their expertise in serving ultra-high-net-worth clients.

The more senior veteran of the pair, Gray boasts more than 30 years of industry experience, joining Merrill Lynch in 2000 after a stint at Goldman Sachs. Meanwhile, Polverini began his career at Merrill Lynch in 2007, which also marked the start of his record in the industry.

A nationally recognized top advisor who’s been featured on both Forbes and Barron’s, Gray leads a team that caters to an exclusive clientele of around 51 households, with an average account size of $50 million, placing them comfortably in the UHNW range.

His team, including investment associate Drew Sapede and client associates Irma Deluna, will report to David Berger, market leader for the company’s southwest region.

“We very much look forward to taking our practice to the next level, leveraging the extraordinary resources and expertise of J.P. Morgan on behalf of our clients,” Gray said in a statement.

The US wealth space is certainly dynamic with news of advisor teams switching firms breaking almost daily, and migrations of $1 billion books and above are common enough. But movements on the next order of magnitude, $10 billion plus, is exceedingly rare.

The one move that came closest to that last year was when a heavyweight team managing $5.5 billion left UBS to join RBC