Merrill Lynch has scooped up two advisors with $3 billion in assets under management from rival wirehouse giants UBS and Deutsche Bank.  Howard Rowen and Halsey Smith joined the Merrill Lynch Private Banking & Investment Group’s Los Angeles office on April 9.The transition so far has been relatively smooth, but that’s not to say it’s an easy thing to do. Transitions are often “a little bit of a knife fight,” Smith says. “It’s a blood sport – it’s a mad dash to get those clients to stay and we’re trying to do the opposite, trying to get them to come join us at Merrill Lynch.”And so far the team has been successful in bringing many of their clients over. “It’s wonderful, it’s competitive, it’s a challenge,” he says. “And what we’re finding is that clients are coming over.”

via Merrill Lynch Snags $3 Billion Team | On Wall Street.