Strong Family Team Leaves UBS for Wells Fargo Advisors' Employee Channel in Naples and Birmingham

Wells Fargo Advisors has picked up a three-generation family practice from UBS Financial Services, adding to a run of UBS departures that have landed at one Wells Fargo channel or another in 2026.

Brothers Andrew and Jonathan Strong, together with Andrew's son Christian, now practice as Strong Wealth Management Group, the name the team uses at Wells Fargo Advisors. InvestmentNews reported the team oversaw roughly $410 million in assets under management while at UBS. The group joined the Wells Fargo employee channel, the firm's traditional W-2 brokerage, rather than Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, the independent contractor arm known as FiNet.

FINRA's BrokerCheck shows both brothers registered with Wells Fargo Clearing Services as of Oct. 1, with their branch listed in Naples, Florida. The same records show their UBS registrations ending in early October after a little more than 14 years; each brother had joined UBS on July 5, 2012. Financial Advisor magazine, citing Wells Fargo, reported the team made the switch on Thursday, Oct. 1, and an Oct. 1 LinkedIn post from Andrew and Jonathan announced the move the same day.

The team's new Wells Fargo Advisors web page lists two offices: one on Strada Place in Naples and one on East Brown Street in Birmingham, Michigan. The page describes the practice as rooted in Michigan and frames the Naples office as a step toward where many of its clients spend their time, with Birmingham kept to stay close to its longtime client base.

Andrew Strong, CRD 1931021, has been in the securities business since 1989. BrokerCheck shows he spent 23 years at Merrill Lynch, registered from April 1989 to July 2012 out of Novi, Michigan, before moving to UBS, where his branch was in Plymouth, Michigan. Jonathan Strong, CRD 5027449, started at Merrill in November 2005 in Troy, Michigan, and moved to UBS alongside his brother in 2012, staying in Troy. Neither brother has any disclosures on BrokerCheck. Andrew holds the Series 7, 63 and 65 qualifications, according to FINRA records, while Jonathan holds the Series 7 and 66.

Christian Strong does not show up on BrokerCheck as a currently registered representative. Financial Advisor magazine described him as a client associate, and the team's Wells Fargo biography says he divides his time between the Naples and Birmingham offices and focuses on younger clients and continuity planning.

In their LinkedIn announcement, the brothers pointed to "access to exceptional resources" as a driver of the decision and said clients should expect deeper planning and investment capabilities. Wells Fargo did not disclose recruiting terms, and none of the outlets reviewed reported a transition package.

The move fits a broader pattern of UBS advisors heading to Wells Fargo. Financial Advisor magazine noted the Strong team is the second UBS group in recent weeks to join a Wells Fargo business, following the Cullman/Holt Group, a $1.3 billion practice in Ohio that went to FiNet-affiliated Ascend Advisory Group in late September. WealthManagement.com has tied that exodus to UBS's 2025 overhaul of its advisor compensation plan.

Other UBS teams have taken the FiNet route this year, including Snow Pine Private Wealth, a $1.7 billion Wayzata, Minnesota team that joined in March, and Touchstone Wealth Partners, a $2.1 billion Toledo, Ohio and Bonita Springs, Florida group that followed in April, according to WealthManagement.com. On the employee side, the biggest recent example remains Hingham Street Partners, the $6.3 billion Boston team that moved from UBS to Wells Fargo's private client group on Dec. 2, 2025, which WealthManagement.com called Wells Fargo's largest recruiting win of that year.

Headcount data point the same direction. WealthManagement.com, summarizing an industry recruiting report on the first half of 2026, said Wells Fargo posted a net gain of 46 experienced advisors over those six months while UBS recorded a net loss of 182. The same coverage said the four wirehouses together lost 517 advisors on a net basis in the half, and that the report counted a further 135 advisors switching between Wells Fargo channels, moves it excluded from its recruiting totals.

For Wells Fargo, the Strong hire is modest by asset size compared with the billion-dollar teams it has courted this year. It does, however, show the employee channel still landing wirehouse-trained family practices that want to stay W-2 while adding a presence in a fast-growing Florida market.