Morgan Stanley LatAm advisor exits to join Bolton network

Morgan Stanley international advisor Gonzalo Canelas has left the wirehouse’s New York-based business to launch his own independent firm on the Bolton Global Capital network.

Canelas had been at Morgan Stanley for 10 years and oversaw around $240m in assets for ultra-high net worth clients in Latin America, most of whom are based in Bolivia, according to an announcement from Bolton.

Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

He will be working out of Bolton’s New York branch before moving to its office in Miami later this year. Canelas’s arrival follows that of fellow Morgan Stanley advisor Randy Caruso-Reynoso, who left the wirehouse in November last year to launch his own shop on Bolton’s independent platform.

In total, Bolton Global said that over the past two years it has recruited eight advisors from Morgan Stanley in New York City who collectively managed around $1bn in client assets.

In February, New York-based international advisor Bernardo Villanueva left UBS to join one of the firms on Bolton’s network. Villanueva, who had run $225m in client assets at UBS, joined his brother’s advisory firm, Copernico Capital.

Bolton provides office space, technology infrastructure, brand development and legal support for bank and wirehouse teams that are looking to go independent while acquiring ownership and operating under their own brand name.