Big shake-up at big brokerage branches in New York

The four largest retail brokerage firms have made changes in their New York City area branches this week. Wells Fargo Advisors said it hired Thomas R. Isaacs, a 25-year veteran of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., to run its seven private-client-group branches in Manhattan. He will be a managing director with the functional title of New York City market manager and will oversee 246 brokers with about $21 billion in client assets. Mr. Isaacs most recently was complex manager of Merrill's northern Florida branches, based in Jacksonville. A native of the New York metropolitan area, he began his career as a broker with Merrill in New York. In his new role, he replaces former New York market manager Richard Frick. He will report to Michael Carroll, regional president of Wells Fargo Advisors' Northeast region. A Merrill spokeswoman said Mr. Isaacs left in March and was replaced last month by Tony Kurlas, who previously had managed branches in Georgia. UBS AG also made a change at its Wealth Management Americas unit in New York, recruiting Daniel Gallagher to oversee a midtown Manhattan branch. He replaces Bob Lee, who has been reassigned to corporate headquarters. Mr. Gallagher comes from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, where he was a non-producing manager of a midtown Manhattan branch. A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman confirmed Mr. Gallagher's departure and said a search for a replacement is being conducted. The move comes as Morgan Stanley continues to modify its retail-branch-management staff in the wake of last summer's merger with Citigroup's Smith Barney retail brokerage franchise. Morgan Stanley has in many cases reduced the roles of non-producing branch managers, like Mr. Gallagher, in favor of appointing complex managers who oversee several branches. More than 20 branch and complex managers have left the firm since the merger. At UBS, meanwhile, the firm is beginning to beef up its brokerage ranks after a long period of decline. The company earlier this week said its brokerage force in the U.S. shrank by 3% in the first quarter “as a result of voluntary departures and limited recruiting.” In a conference call with analysts, UBS AG's chief financial officer said the unit is “back in the market, hiring financial advisers on a selective basis.” As of the end of March, UBS had 6,867 advisers. A few years ago, UBS's U.S. brokerage force — made up largely of the former PaineWebber business — had more than 10,000 brokers.