Wells Fargo Snags Two UBS Teams Managing $625 Million Combined in NJ

Wells Fargo Advisors last week reeled in two Paramus, New Jersey-based teams from UBS Wealth Management USA that managed $625 million in combined assets, a Wells spokesperson confirmed.

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The larger of the teams is led by Stephen R. Laddy and John K. Serocke, who joined Wells on December 10. They managed $354 million in client assets and produced $3.65 million in annual revenue, according to the Wells spokesperson. 

Laddy and Serocke split from a larger team at UBS called Axis Wealth Partners, according to their former firm website. The team, which now goes by the name Bergen County Wealth Management, includes advisors Ernie Kloock, Melissa Lovell, DeAnn Cavagnaro and Bruce Orenstein, according to their UBS website. 

Members of the team remaining at UBS did not respond to requests for comment sent through social media. The Axis team ranked #27 in the state last year with $875 million in combined assets, according to a Forbes ranking. 

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Laddy, who started his career 26 years ago with Prime Capital Services, worked at a Bank of America’s discount brokerage unit and Morgan Stanley before joining UBS in 2014, according to BrokerCheck. 

Serocke first registered with Merrill Lynch in 1994 and also joined UBS from Moragn Stanley in 2014, according to BrokerCheck.

Neither advisor responded to requests for comment. Team breakups have become more common in recent years, including a high number at UBS.  

UBS earlier this month eliminated a perk that had allowed team members to combine production to hit higher grid payouts. While UBS was the only large wirehouse that offered that option, the move and other compensation changes announced for 2025, irked some veteran producers. It is unlikely those changes directly influenced these moves as recruiters say it typically takes at least six months of preparation for a move.   

Separately, on Thursday, veteran advisor Thomas Bishop, his son, Kevin, and a client associate joined Wells, according to the spokesperson. They managed $270 million in client assets and produced $1.7 million in annual revenue. 

At UBS, the team was called BDC Wealth Management, according to their former firm’s website. The junior Bishop is a trainee, according to the spokesperson.  

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The senior Bishop has over three decades of experience and worked at Merrill and Morgan Stanley before joining UBS in 2007, according to BrokerCheck. His son started his career two years ago with UBS.

Both teams report to Branch Manager of Wells’ Paramus office, William P. George, Jr., who has been with Wells for the past 18 years. He did not respond to a request for comment. 

Sol Gindi, head of Wells Fargo Advisors, said in October that the number of advisors joining the firm across all of its channels has risen by 50% and revenue has also increased more than 50%. 

Also in October, a UBS team with more than $1 billion in assets moved to a practice affiliated with Wells’ independent Financial Network in Boca Raton, Florida. 

Wells continues to seek a replacement role for its head of recruiting, Brendan Krebs, who left in November for a role at PNC Bank’s mass affluent wealth channel. 

Wells has around 12,000 brokers, including those at FiNet as well as its private client group and bank channels. UBS’s headcount hovers around 6,000 in the Americas including advisors in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.