New N.Y. Branch Managers at Wells Fargo, UBS and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

Many wealth managers in the New York area are working under new branch chiefs following recent changes in local management made by three of the big four retail brokerage houses.

At Wells Fargo Advisors, Thomas R. Isaacs recently succeeded Richard Frick as New York City market manager responsible for seven private-client branches in Manhattan with 246 brokers and about $21 billion in client assets. Isaacs comes from Merrill Lynch where he recently served as complex manager in Jacksonville, but had worked for Merrill in New York many years before that according to Investment News.

Merrill reportedly tapped Georgia branch manager Tony Kurlas to fill the northern Florida slot vacated by Isaacs.

Meanwhile, Investment News reports UBS Wealth Management Americas hired Daniel Gallagher from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to oversee a midtown Manhattan branch formerly run by Bob Lee.

UBS has said it's resumed hiring financial advisors on a "selective" basis, after its U.S. broker force shrank 3 percent in this year's first quarter and more than 30 percent in the past few years.

MSSB is searching for a replacement for Gallagher, who was a non-producing manager there. More than 20 branch and complex managers left MSSB since last summer's merger between the retail brokerage businesses of Morgan Stanley and Citigroup's Smith Barney.