A team of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney brokers in northern New York state, the Morgia Group, last week joined HighTower Advisors, a Chicago firm that is adding veteran advisers across the United States.
Cataldo “Tony” Morgia on Friday joined HighTower after more than 40 years on Wall Street, including 16 years at Smith Barney in Syracuse, New York.
Morgia, along with Michael Morgia and Philip “P.J.” Banazek, joined Hightower as managing directors and partners, while Mark Banazek joined as a financial adviser.
According to FINRA records, Morgia also worked 14 years at Lehman Brothers and began his career in 1968 at Spencer Trask & Co, a predecessor of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
Michael Morgia began his career at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in 1988 and is currently the team’s lead equity portfolio manager. Banazek was previously a senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
Morgan Stanley acquired control of Smith Barney in June 2009 as the brokerage’s parent, hard-hit Citigroup, was eager to raise capital. Since then, hundreds of Smith Barney brokers have fled to rivals or formed independent advisory firms.
