Morgan Stanley hires 34-year Merrill veteran, Bridgeman NEW YORK (Reuters) - Garry Bridgeman, a Merrill Lynch broker for more than 34 years, has joined Morgan Stanley's (MS.N) Graystone Consulting unit in Atlanta. Bridgeman, who joined Morgan Stanley on September 26, generated $1.9 million of fees and revenue over the past 12 months and has a high industry profile, according to a Morgan Stanley spokeswoman. He was the 2008-2009 board president of the Investment Management Consultants Association, which credentials advisers active in portfolio management, and was the first African-American to be hired by a major broker-dealer in Mississippi, according to Morgan Stanley. Graystone focuses on institutional clients within wealth management, such as philanthropic organizations, foundations, local government entities, and wealthy individuals and their companies. The firm declined to disclose the total client assets that Bridgeman helps manage. Bridgeman, who said he is 60, began working for Merrill in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1979. He most recently worked in the private bank and investment group of Merrill, which was sold in 2009 to Bank of America (BAC.N). Separately, Merrill said its private banking group hired a four-person team of brokers who manage over $1 billion of client assets from UBS AG's (UBSN.VX) U.S. private wealth management group. Stephen Ruvituso, Lee Konopka, Robert Matluck, and Todd Stankiewicz joined Merrill's White Plains, New York complex on September 27. The team generated production of more than $11 million over the past 12 months, a Merrill spokeswoman said. Reporting by Jed Horowitz; Editing by Bernadette Baum