UBS hires 15 advisers with $1.5 billion in assets

NEW YORK (Reuters) - UBS Wealth Management Americas recently hired 15 financial advisers overseeing $1.5 billion in client assets and generating more than $14 million in annual fees and commissions, according to a source familiar with the business.

So far this year, UBS has hired 124 advisers, up 50 percent from a year earlier, said the source.

The new advisers include Michael Winn and David James who joined UBS <UBSN.VX> <UBS.N> in Century City, California from Oppenheimer & Co Inc. The pair spent almost eight years at Oppenheimer, according to filings with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The pair previously oversaw $421 million of client assets and generated $6 million in annual fees and commissions, according to the source.

UBS also added a team from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Centerville, Ohio. David Scharff, Colin Kowalski and Gary Vance spent 16 years at Smith Barney before Citigroup Inc <C.N> spun the unit into a joint venture with Morgan Stanley <MS.N> in June 2009, according to FINRA filings.

The team previously oversaw $184 million of client assets and generated $1.7 million in annual fees and commissions, according to the source.

James Bingham joined UBS in Las Vegas from Bank of America Corp's <BAC.N> Merrill Lynch, where he spent more than 25 years, according to FINRA filings. Bingham previously oversaw $155 million of client assets and generated $956,000 in annual fees and commissions, according to the source.

Angel Valle joined UBS's international wealth management office in New York City from Citi Private Bank. Valle spent almost a decade at Citigroup, according to FINRA filings. Valle previously oversaw $111 million of client assets and generated $944,000 in annual fees and commissions, according to the source.

(Reporting by Helen Kearney. Editing by Robert MacMillan)