August 30, 2022
Debbie Wallen Quoted By Miriam Rozen and Mason Braswell

RBC Wealth Management-U.S. has reeled in a Merrill Lynch Wealth Management team of three brokers in Winter Park, Florida, who had managed roughly $560 million in assets, an RBC spokesperson confirmed.

The team, led by 24-year industry veteran Brian C. Coatoam, had been generating roughly $3.6 million in annual revenue, according to Debbie Wallen of New Jersey recruiting firm Diamond Consultants. They are opening a new office for RBC in Winter Park north of Orlando, Wallen said.

Coatoam, whose BrokerCheck record does not yet reflect his move, had joined Merrill 13 years ago from Morgan Stanley, where he launched his career in 1998 after a rookie year with a subsequently expelled brokerage, Advantage Trading Group.

Wallen said she had cold called Coatoam in 2010 and kept in touch until they began more seriously considering a move in the past couple years. They had looked at a few other firms, including Rockefeller Capital Management, she said.

“RBC was motivated and really showed them the love,” Wallen said. She declined to comment further on their reasons for leaving Merrill.

On the team, which is known as Coatoam Wealth Management Group, are two other brokers: Derek Grimm, a 21-year veteran, who left Morgan Stanley one year after Coatoam, and Ryan Plank, who started his career at Merrill 10 years ago.

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