Merrill Lynch hires four advisers from rival brokerages

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's Merrill Lynch said on Wednesday it added four veteran advisers who managed nearly $1 billion in combined client assets from rival U.S. brokerages.

The new hires, who moved to Merrill in January, came from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Wells Fargo Advisors and Piper Jaffray & Co.

In Arizona, adviser Stephanie Greer joined Merrill's Scottsdale office from Wells Fargo & Co's U.S. brokerage, Wells Fargo Advisors, where she managed $189 million in client assets.

Greer, who had been at Wells for more than a decade, last year generated $958,600 in annual revenue.

In Oregon, adviser Kevin Robertson joined Merrill's Portland office from Piper Jaffray & Co, where he worked for more than a decade.

Robertson managed $588 million in client assets at the firm and had an annual revenue production of $1 million.

In California, adviser Quoc Pham joined Merrill's San Jose office from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, the brokerage majority owned by Morgan Stanley and partially owned by Citigroup.

Pham, who had been based out of Morgan Stanley's Palo Alto office, managed $82 million in client assets and generated $1.1 million in annual revenue last year.

Also on the move in California, adviser William Terrell joined Merrill's San Francisco office from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Terrell managed $137 million in client assets and had an annual revenue production of $1.4 million.

Merrill ranks among the top U.S. brokerages by client assets and adviser headcount, along with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Wells Fargo Advisors. The firms often vie for the same pool of veteran advisers.

Wells Fargo declined to comment on Greer's departure. Representatives from Morgan Stanley and Piper Jaffray did not immediately return requests for comment on their advisers' departures.

(Reporting by Ashley Lau in New York; editing by Gunna Dickson)