Citizens Adds $5B JP Morgan Trio to Expand Wealth Unit

Citizens Financial Group is expanding its wealth management operations in California with a 12-person advisory team that formerly managed $5 billion for ultra-high-net-worth clients at J.P. Morgan Securities.

The announcement follows the appointment of Paul Casey as head of wealth management.

The San Francisco-based team is led by senior managing directors Rick Gordon and Hugh Beecher, as well as managing director Andrew Curto. The three advisors joined JPMorgan following the acquisition of First Republic last year.

“We are excited to bring aboard one of the top California-based wealth teams to Citizens Private Wealth as we look to grow our business and better serve our clients,” Brendan Coughlin, vice chair and head of consumer banking at Citizens, said.

The move was one of several high-profile departures from JPMorgan late last week. Merrill Lynch said on Friday that it had hired a 12-person advisory team that managed $3.5 billion from JPMorgan. All but one of the advisors joined the bank through First Republic.

Last year, Citizens hired 200 bankers and more than a dozen advisors to create its private banking unit.

Citizens had $220.4 billion in assets as of March 31, with $24 billion in its wealth division and $15.3 billion in its private wealth arm, according to the company’s first-quarter earnings report.