Top producers from Merrill Lynch set up own shops

Four teams from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, representing what looks to be more than $1 billion in assets, have left the firm to set up their own shops. Two of the teams have joined HighTower Advisors LLC and launched the firm's first Las Vegas office: Hugh Anderson and Sheila Delutri, principals in the Anderson & Delutri team, which managed $450 million at Merrill Lynch; and Mike PeQueen, Ned Evans and Adam Thurgood, principals of the MNA Group, with $340 million in assets. Separately, Merrill branch manager Steve Altman and adviser Brett Davis have joined colleagues Todd Gescher and Jason Herber to form True Private Wealth Advisors LLC of Salem, Ore. The Altman/Davis Group and the Gescher/Herber Group will remain as two separate groups at True Private Wealth Advisors, according to Dynasty Financial Partners, the new firm's service provider. Assets managed by the Oregon advisers weren't disclosed, but Dynasty spokeswoman Sally Cates said that the firm works with teams with assets of $300 million or more. Merrill Lynch spokesman Matthew Card confirmed the departures but declined to comment further. djamieson@investmentnews.comTwitter: @dvjamieson