RBC snatches $1.1B team from UBS

The Royal Bank of Canada has once again expanded its reach in the United States, this time by snapping up a billion-dollar team of advisors from UBS.

RBC Wealth Management announced on Friday that it had recruited James, Ford & Duble Wealth Partners, which had been managing $1.1 billion in client assets for the Swiss investment bank. The team will now head up RBC's new office in Columbus, Ohio.

"We're very excited to open an RBC Wealth Management branch in Columbus, as it grows the firm's reach in Ohio and enables us to serve more clients," Frank Albanese, director of RBC's Great Lakes division, said in a press release. 

The group is led by managing director William James II, who will now serve as RBC's new Columbus branch director. James and his colleagues had previously been operating out of New Albany, Ohio.

"James, Ford & Duble Wealth Partners has a long and successful history in this area," Albanese said. "They are a great fit for the firm, and we look forward to Bill's leadership in the new branch."

In a statement, James, Ford & Duble celebrated the move as well.

"After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the important decision to join RBC Wealth Management, a global firm with a clients-first culture and world-class resources," the team said. "At RBC Wealth Management our clients will enjoy the attention they expect from us, supported by a tool set and business model that has made RBC one of the world's strongest global financial institutions."

The new Columbus branch will be RBC's fourth in Ohio, where it also has offices in Toledo, Westlake and Cleveland.

This is not the first team of its size that RBC has managed to reel in this year. In April, the firm lured the Todd Halbrook and Adam MacDonald Wealth Management Group away from First Republic. That team managed about $1 billion in client assets. 

"There's really no team that is too big for a firm like RBC from an assets perspective," said Jason Diamond, a vice president at the financial advisor recruiting firm Diamond Consultants. "They're able to handle high net worth relationships, sophisticated teams, PWM [professional wealth management] teams — you name it — and they have the resources and capabilities to support the business."

Read more: Canada's RBC Wealth Management seizes on bank crisis to expand U.S. growth plan

There is a David-and-Goliath quality to RBC's success at poaching a UBS team. As of their latest earnings reports, RBC had $788.23 billion in assets under management, while the much larger UBS had $3 trillion.

But according to Diamond, RBC's smaller size — and its relative lack of bureaucratic "red tape" — is part of its appeal to advisors. 

"I think the regional firms across the board — and RBC is certainly a good example of this — have done a great job of being the best of both worlds," he said. "You still get this great investments platform, you still get all the resources under one roof, just like you do at a wirehouse. But you also get a flatter management structure, a more business-friendly culture and a more boutique-y feel."

There's also something else these recruiting moves have in common: In both cases, RBC managed to use the fallout from this year's banking crisis to its advantage. When RBC absorbed the Halbrook and MacDonald team, their employer, First Republic, was on the verge of collapse. And more recently, UBS has been losing profits and bleeding advisors as it worked to take over its imploding competitor, Credit Suisse. 

It's not clear whether that was a factor in why James, Ford & Duble jumped ship. The team did not immediately respond to Financial Planning's request for comment.

But according to Diamond, there are many other reasons a team at a Goliath like UBS would want to move to a David like RBC.

"Wirehouse advisors really have more choice than ever before," Diamond said. "They could look at another wirehouse, they could certainly look at independence. And for those who want something of a middle ground, a firm like RBC is a fantastic option."