Bank of America’s Merrill announced Tuesday that it had pulled over Dustin Elliott and Andrew Bushong, who had previously run The Hill Country Group at Morgan Stanley in Austin, Texas. Both Elliott and Bushong, who previously managed roughly $450 million in client assets, have 19 years of industry experience. They started at A.G. Edwards in 2005 and had stints at Wells Fargo Advisors. Elliott moved to UBS for eight years starting in 2009, and they both joined Morgan Stanley in 2017.
At Merrill, they’ll report to Daniel Frugé, market executive for the Austin area. Joining them will be Katelyn Murff, Abby Sutterman and Hannah Wertz.
Separately, Merrill announced that a pair of brokers previously managing $500 million had joined from JP Morgan Private Bank. Michael Puleio and Laura Bokser will work out of Merrill’s New York office under Nathan Marsden, a regional managing director.
Puleio has 18 years of industry experience. He started at MetLife Securities in 2003 and was at Morgan Stanley for a short time before joining JPMorgan in 2018. Bokser has three years of industry experience, having started at JPMorgan in 2021. Their clients include ultrahigh net worth customers, business owners, family offices and sports figures.
