JPMorgan's Bear Stearns Private Client has been recruiting financial advisers with an eye to more than doubling its brokerage work force. The unit added 70 so far this year, including top wire-house producers. It has plans to grow to 1,000 brokers from its current level of 380.
Next year it plans to set up shop in the Houston area, the mid-Atlantic region and Florida, adding to its offices in New York, Boston, Chicago and other cities.