UBS loses a $6B team, gains Morgan Stanley recruiting head

Amid continued advisor defections, UBS has lost a team with billions in client assets that’s left to start an RIA with offices in Boston and Los Angeles while pulling a new recruiting head from Morgan Stanley.

Denis Cleary and Greg Devine, both with UBS since 2020, have departed the wirehouse to start a registered investment advisory called 71 West Capital Partners. The duo had formerly led a private wealth practice managing $6 billion for clients in 35 states, according to an announcement of the move.

Meanwhile, UBS announced on Friday that it had turned to its industry rival Morgan Stanley to hire a new executive to oversee recruiting in its U.S. wealth management division. Ben Firestein is joining the firm as head of field leader development and of national recruiting and retention. At Morgan Stanley, Firestein was most recently head of national recruiting for wealth management and private wealth management. 

Mike Camacho, the head of UBS Global Wealth Management US, said in a memo to employees that, “Attracting and retaining the industry’s top Financial Advisors and empowering our leaders to help them thrive remain among our highest priorities. We are fully committed to affirming our position as the best destination for advisors to join, grow, and retire from.”

UBS has been struggling with accelerated advisor departures since fall 2024, when it announced revisions to its advisor compensation policies for this year. The changes lowered payouts for lower-end producers in a bid to improve the profits of the firm’s Americas unit and align its pay practices with competitors. 

UBS sought in September to roll back some of the previous compensation changes while providing incentives to reward advisors who remain loyal to the firm. It also stayed busy recruiting from rivals. The firm still ended its third quarter with 5,779 advisors in its Americas unit, which includes Canada and Latin America. That was up slightly from the number for the second quarter but down from 5,986 in the third quarter of 2024.

71 West Capital Partners is likely the biggest team to leave so far, measured by assets under management. The founders of the firm — Cleary and Denis — have an association dating to 2006, when they both started working at Goldman Sachs. 

Their move to UBS in 2020 was one of the “industry’s most successful transitions,” according to a press release announcing the formation of 71 West Capital Partners. Within a year of leaving Goldman, according to the release, they had their revenue production back up to what it was the year before.

Advisors who leave a big wealth manager like UBS to either start their own or join an industry rival often must accept the likelihood that at least some of their former clients won’t come with them. At 71 West Capital Partners, Cleary and Devine will continue working with entrepreneurs, business owners, executives, families and philanthropic groups, according to the press release.

Cleary will be the CEO of the new firm and operate out of Boston, while Devine will oversee the firm’s Los Angeles office. Joining them are their team members Abigail Harris, Matthew Kirshner, Chris Carbone, William Corman, Spencer Danziger and Nolan Morr. 71 West Capital Partners has chosen BNY Pershing as its custodian.

UBS’ other recent losses include Executive Financial Advisors, a large team managing $3.7 billion in client assets that left to join Morgan Stanley;  The Couch Group, a three-advisor team managing $450 million that also left for Morgan Stanley; and Heller Stieffel & Noto Wealth Management, a group managing $1.2 billion and joined RBC Wealth Management-U.S.