Wells Fargo continues recruiting run with $1.6B AUM UBS team

Fresh off its recruitment of a big advisory practice from Morgan Stanely, Wells Fargo has picked up a 14-person team with more than $1 billion under management from UBS.

AGT Private Wealth Group is joining Wells Fargo Advisors in Frisco, Texas. The team, led by six financial advisors, had managed roughly $1.6 billion at UBS.

The announcement of their move comes just days after Wells Fargo drew to its New York offices a 19-member team formerly managing nearly $6 billion at Morgan Stanley. Among big-name Wall Street firms, Wells Fargo has been one of the most aggressive recruiters. Compared with other wirehouses, its 85 net recruits in 2025 was topped only by Morgan Stanley's 111, according to the annual "Financial Advisor Transition Report" by the recruiting firm Diamond Consultants.

Wells' latest team recruited from UBS is led by the private wealth advisors Jay Arbetter, Jason Taraszki, Henry Jordan and Rusti Rogger, as well as the financial advisors Alec "AJ" Jordan and Evan Taylor. Joining them are eight support staff members.

Arbetter started his career at Merrill in 1985 and moved to UBS in 2013. Taraszki was at Dean Witter for less than a year in 1999, moved to Merrill in 2000 and then to UBS in 2013.

Henry Jordan (the father of AJ Jordan) started at Allstate Financial Services in 2006, moved to Sanford Bernstein in 2009 and then to UBS in 2011. Rogger, AJ Jordan and Evan Taylor began in their careers at UBS, in 2004, 2020 and 2017, respectively.

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

With improved profit margin, UBS still struggling with advisor attrition

Even as Wells Fargo has seen success adding to its ranks with recruiting, UBS has struggled over the past year and a half with advisor retention. Advisors began leaving the Americas operation of the Swiss firm at an accelerated pace following the announcement of unpopular compensation changes in late 2024.

Attempts last year to soften those changes have slowed departures without ending them entirely. UBS reported in an earnings call last week that its advisor headcount in its North and South America wealth business fell to 5,722in the first quarter, down less than 1% from the fourth quarter of 2025 but down 3% from the first quarter a year ago.

UBS executives have said they needed to make changes to advisor compensation to improve the profitability of their of the Americas wealth business. UBS reported the Americas division's pretax profit margin — or the proportion of revenue left over after the deduction of expenses — was up by more than a percentage point in the first quarter of 2026 to nearly 14%. Its operating profits before taxes were up by 25% to $448 million.