Merrill Lynch has recruited a $13 billion financial advisor team from rival Morgan Stanley's Graystone Consulting group. The team, which was called Boston North Shore Group at Morgan Stanley but will rebrand at Merrill, joined Merrill's Boston office on Thursday.

The 14-person team has a mix of retail and institutional clients, including ultrahigh-net-worth families, executives, entrepreneurs, and retirement plans. The team ranked No. 80 on Barron's 2026 Top 100 Institutional Consulting Teams. It also ranked on the National Association of Plan Advisors' list of top defined-contribution advisor teams. Napa said that the team worked with 103 plans as of the end of 2025.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the departure.

The team is joining Merrill Private Wealth Management, a division led by Greg McGauley, who says that the advisors will benefit from the firm's workplace benefits offerings and the resources of its parent company, Bank of America.

"The industry's top teams are looking for a firm that can help them serve increasingly complex client needs while positioning their practices for long-term growth," he says.

The team is led by Al J. Hammond, Matthew McLaughlin, Anthony F. Mancini, Peter Ciovacco, Scott Tobey, and Michael Egan, who all join Merrill as private wealth advisors. Merrill also named Hammond and McLaughlin as managing directors. Mancini and Ciovacco join as senior vice presidents, and Tobey and Egan will serve as vice presidents.

The team also includes support staffers Jack Brown, Wilson Bullard, Christina Cecchino, Jade Dagher, Martin Gauba, Doug Kublin, Sonya Pratt, and Clare Sheehan.

Hammond, who started his brokerage career in 1991 with Merril Lynch, is a founding partner of the team and has worked with plan sponsors and investment committees throughout his career. McLaughlin, who first registered with Smith Barney in 1994, has also focused his career on the institutional side of the business.

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