In addition to the departures which we announced a few days ago, those of Graciela Perez and Jorge Perez, partners in Merrill Lynch’s, The Perez Group, Albert Philion and Andres Brik, have also left the company for the UBS’ Coral Gables office, as well as Flavio Sugiyama, who has joined UBS at Brickell, and Rosa Leace, who has joined Morgan Stanley.
Industry sources explained that Merrill Lynch could be about to hand out “garden leave” documents for its personnel to sign, which is accelerating the departure of certain professionals who perhaps were already contemplating their future, and have opted to take the lead in making the move, rather than being invited to do so.
Albert Philion, who was based in the company’s Coral Gables office and had been involved with Merrill Lynch for 23 years, has taken up the Senior VP Wealth
Management position; Andres Brik, who had been with the company for seven years, is also leaving the Coral Gables office, and will hold the VP post at UBS Wealth Management. Flavio Sugiyama had been at Merrill Lynch for two and a half years, joining the company after 12 years working for Santander, while Rosa Leace, who was Senior Financial Advisor for Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch’s Weston office, leaves the company after eight years of service, to join Morgan Stanley in Ft. Lauderdale.
Meanwhile, Citywire announced Lorenzo Esteva’s and Alejandro Malbran’s departure, also to join UBS.
Furthermore, Jeff Ransdell, until now responsible for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s southeast region, supervising advisors in Florida, Alabama, southeastern Georgia, Caribbean and Latin America, retired in October and was replaced by Don Plaus.
Since the firm announced in July this year that it would raise client’s minimum capital requirements, and would reconfigure its international wealth management business to manage clients in 29 countries, including Latin America, the changes and departures have been taking place incessantly.
