November 14, 2022
By Jake Martin
A four-advisor Citi Private Bank team managing $1 billion in client assets in Connecticut and New York has decamped for Merrill Lynch, according to a source familiar with the move.
The team is led by Frank A. Falco, who will be based out of Merrill’s Great Neck office on Long Island, as well as Kevin C. Condon, John R. Huber and Alexandra Maksimow, who will be based out of its Stamford, Connecticut office, according to the source. They joined Merrill on a staggered schedule over the past two months after serving out garden leave terms.
Merrill in recent years has occasionally pulled in other salaried private bankers, including teams from Citi and J.P. Morgan this summer despite its broader freeze on veteran broker recruiting since 2017. It also, however, has returned full-force to hiring traditional brokers from its rival wirehouses with high-end deals in recent months, according to recruiters.
Falco, who joined Merrill on November 7, spent 22 of his 25 years in the industry with Citi, according to his BrokerCheck report. He had started at Gaines, Berland Inc. in 1997, according to the database.
Condon, who joined Merrill on October 13, had been with Citi for the previous seven years, according to his BrokerCheck report. He started in 1992 as a portfolio manager with U.S. Trust (later Bank of America Private Bank) and later worked at UBS Financial Services, from 1999 to 2014, during which time he was not registered as a broker, according to his LinkedIn and registration records.
Huber, who also joined Merrill on October 13, had been with Citi since 2007, working in various wealth management and private banking roles, according to his BrokerCheck report and LinkedIn profile. He had started in 2005 at Prime Capital Services, according to registration records.
Maksimow, who joined Merrill on September 12, began her Citi career in 2012 as a credit analyst in the commercial bank before switching to the private bank in 2016, according to her BrokerCheck report and LinkedIn profile. She previously worked as a finance and marketing intern at Merrill’s Fairfield, Connecticut office in 2010, according to her LinkedIn.
A spokesperson for Citi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.