UBS imports RIA playbook in Southern California push

UBS kept the Lumina Wealth Partners name and its athlete-and-entertainer niche when it moved the four-advisor Bernstein team into its Century City private wealth office at 2000 Avenue of the Stars this week. PWD's tracking sized that four-advisor move at $1.4 billion in client assets, roughly $2.9 million per advisor. The team, led by managing directors Pasha Azad and Dayne Crist and including Steven Summerhays and Koby Dardashti, focuses on entrepreneurs, founders, corporate executives, artists, entertainers, professional athletes and multigenerational families, with four associates supporting the practice, including senior wealth strategy associates Ryan Siroky and Lexie Kamran. Kate Daniels, senior market director for Los Angeles private wealth, called Lumina "a highly respected practice grounded in deep client relationships, thoughtful advice and an entrepreneurial approach."

InvestmentNews reports that UBS has opened an Orange County wealth office at 200 Spectrum Center Drive in Irvine, moving ten teams onto an 18th-floor space equipped with meeting rooms, a café, a fitness center, EV charging and panoramic views. Among the relocated teams are Carver & Gee Wealth Management, the Nassau Group, Roth Wealth Management Group, Sequoia Partners, The Callan Group, The Price Group and the Katzaroff, Kottmeier, Thompson Group. Justin Frame, Pacific Desert Market managing director, frames the space as a longer-term play on the region's growth.

The overall expansion is modest next to UBS's $6.1 trillion in invested assets as of the fourth quarter of 2024, and the Los Angeles office already houses more than 225 employees across private wealth management, wealth management and investment banking. But the method is not: UBS kept the Lumina name, kept the athlete-and-entertainer niche, and parked ten established teams in a building designed to feel like a destination. The likely goal is retention: an advisor with a branded team and a destination office has one fewer reason to answer a breakaway pitch.

Independent recruiters in Southern California should watch that math. The RIA case has often rested on identity and culture; UBS is now offering both inside the employee channel, with the Bernstein team as evidence. The talent war has moved into employee and retention channels, and this is what that fight looks like when it lands on a regional map.