J.P. Morgan Wealth Management on Friday hired a Merrill Lynch lifer who managed $940 million in assets in Los Angeles, according to an announcement from the hiring firm.

J. Tiffany Yu, who first registered with the thundering herd in 1998, joined an existing team at J.P. Morgan Advisors in Century City, according to the announcement.

The team, Elevate Wealth Partners, is led by advisors Eric Gray and Howard Rowen and includes another advisor and five support staff. Yu and members of the team did not respond to a request for comment. 

“Her hire builds on our established presence in the Los Angeles community and strengthens our ability to meet growing client demand there,” Michael Rogers, Los Angeles regional director, said in a statement. 

J.P. Morgan earlier this year added other advisors in California, including David Amar, who managed $1.1 billion in Los Angeles at William Blair, and Pourya Naeimi, who oversaw $533 million in Palo Alto at Wells Fargo, according to the announcement. 

They report to Mollie Colavita, a former Merrill Private Wealth manager who took over as head of J.P. Morgan’s wealth unit in September 2025. Naeimi, who joined in September, was one of Colavita’s first hires in the region since taking over. 

Colavita’s predecessor, Phil Sieg, had set a target in 2021 to more than double the headcount at J.P. Morgan Advisors to around 1,000 from 450. Thanks to its parent bank’s purchase of First Republic’s private wealth unit in 2023, headcount jumped to around 600, although the firm has also suffered some large departures. 

Last month, two of its top teams, who managed $18.6 billion in assets combined, launched an RIA.

Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan also last month hired former Merrill Lynch Private Wealth regional leader Linda A. Patel to be head of its Southeast territory based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She also reports to Colavita and succeeds Janet Sweeney, a 40-year industry veteran who retired earlier this year.

A Merrill spokesperson also did not respond to a request for comment. 

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