JPMorgan, RBC Grab Merrill Teams With $30B in Assets

J.P. Morgan announced this week the successful recruitment of a team of long-tenured Merrill Lynch advisors who oversee a $28 billion book of business in Los Angeles, while RBC Wealth Management revealed the onboarding of two advisors overseeing a collective $900 million in the same region.

Eric Gray and Lance Polverini joined J.P. Morgan Wealth Management in Los Angeles as a wealth partner and wealth advisor, according to the firm’s announcement. The duo worked for Merrill Lynch for a combined 40 years, with Gray having joined in 2000 and Polverini in 2007. Their stated goal in the relocation is to better help ultra-high-net-worth clients and their families navigate complex wealth needs.

Gray said the duo hopes to “take their practice to the next level” via the move to J.P. Morgan, noting their team members are also moving shop, including Drew Sapede joining J.P. Morgan as an investment associate and Michelle Blackmer and Irma Deluna joining as client associates.

Phil Sieg, CEO of J.P. Morgan Advisors, said the decision of Gray and Polverini to change firms was “further confirmation that J.P. Morgan Wealth Management is the best place for the industry’s top advisors to grow their business and for clients to grow their wealth.”