$1.35B team drops Merrill Lynch for Janney

After recruiting a dozen financial advisors in the first quarter, Janney Montgomery Scott added its largest incoming team of the year thus far.

Andrew Meredith and Kevin Lindung of Meredith Lindung Wealth Management left Merrill Lynch on April 16 after their team spent more than two decades with the wirehouse, according to FINRA BrokerCheck. The Towson, Maryland-based team with five employees managed $1.35 billion in client assets with its prior firm.

Meredith Lindung’s new brokerage had recruited 12 advisors and two client associates managing a combined $2 billion out of eight branches in the first quarter, according to the firm. Both the children of onetime Merrill brokers, Meredith and Lindung had planned to remain with the firm that employed their fathers until their own retirements someday, Lindung said in an interview.

“It never crossed our mind to leave, but, in the past 10 years, there was just a bit of a slow fade, a change in culture that wasn't in the best interest of our clients,” Lindung says. “The further we got on the process and the better we got to know the people at Janney, the decision became very easy.”

Janney Montgomery Scott

Representatives for Merrill Lynch declined to comment on the team’s departure. Across the wealth manager, parent firm Bank of America’s private bank and its consumer investment business, the company’s advisor headcount fell by a net 295 advisors to 19,808 representatives in the first quarter.

In addition to Meredith and Lindung, the team includes Senior Registered Private Client Associate Scott Kelly and two other employees. They posted a video message to their clients explaining their decision and moved into an existing Janney branch in Towson.

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“Janney’s boutique size and financial stability provide the necessary resources and flexibility to grow our practice and meet changing client demographics and needs,” Meredith said in a statement.

Janney has more than 120 offices in 21 states and $115 billion in assets under advisement managed by its force of 850 advisors. In 2020, the firm’s recruits spanned 43 advisors with $4 billion in client assets. The firm is an independent subsidiary of The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. In January, it also grabbed another ex-wirehouse team from Morgan Stanley.