6 Wealthy Wealth Managers Quit Morgan Stanley

With size comes bureaucracy, and with bureaucracy comes defections. And, to that end, today it was revealed that six, big-money brokers from the ranks of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney have fled the firm, at least three doing so to head to less political waters.

Warren "Bud" Wilson, John Kwiatkowski and Valerie D'Addona -- who together managed $415 million in client assets and annually earned $2.3 million in fees and commissions at Morgan Stanley -- joined the Westlake Village, Calif., office of Raymond James & Associates, a boutique investment bank headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., with just over 7,200 employees, much fewer than Morgan Stanley's more than 62,000.

According to Wilson, "Raymond James is what Smith Barney was 25 years ago. It was very boutique, it was a wonderful place to work." He adds that since Smith Barney merged with Morgan Stanley, the firm became "too bureaucratic." And that now he has access to the very top of his new firm. "I met the [Raymond James] CEO and president and I have their phone numbers," says Wilson. "We can call them if we have issues."

Three other Morgan Stanley brokers joined other firms: William McKenna, who manages $196 million and annually earns $907,000 in fees and commissions, joined UBS in New Jersey; and David Marshall and Gavin Amato, who together manage $400 million and make $1.1 million in annual fees and commissions, joined the private wealth management unit of Baird, a middle-market investment bank headquartered in the always-hopping, fermented-barley capital of the U.S., Milwaukee, Wis.

(NYT: Morgan Stanley Loses Six Advisers to Competitors)

(Related: A Day in the Life of an Investment Banking Director at Baird)