Fired investment adviser Buck lands at RBC Wealth Management

Thomas J. Buck, a top investment broker who was fired by the local office of Merrill Lynch last month after nearly 34 years with the firm, has joined the Indianapolis office of RBC Wealth Management, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Buck, 61, lost his job at Merrill Lynch due to "management's loss of confidence," the company disclosed in regulatory filing last week. The investment firm claimed Buck failed to "discuss service level and pricing alternatives with a customer" and "provided inaccurate information to firm management during account reviews" regarding the issue.

Buck also allegedly mismarked "bond cross trade order tickets as unsolicited," and gave a client information that didn't match firm records.

At RBC, a division of Royal Bank of Canada, Buck will lead Buck and Associates Wealth Management Group along with two of his daughters, Ann and Elaine, the Wall Street Journal reported. The local office of RBC is at 8888 Keystone Crossing.

Ann Buck also worked at Merrill Lynch, but left the firm two days after her father's firing.

"Mr. Buck has a long history in this industry and solid reputation of providing excellent client service," RBC spokeswoman Nicole Garrison said in a statement published by industry newsletter On Wall Street. "We are pleased to welcome him and his team to RBC Wealth Management-U.S."

Investment News said RBC was joined by another group of advisers from the local Merrill Lynch office in November when it hired Daniel Thompson, Matt Rittenhouse and Alyson Frantz, who had managed about $103 million in client assets.

Barron's has ranked Tom Buck as the top financial adviser in Indiana in every year since 2009. He had $1.5 billion in client assets under management and his roughly 500 clients had a typical net worth of $10 million, Barron’s reported.

He was ranked 80th on Barron’s 2014 list of the country’s top 100 financial advisers.