Merrill Lynch has picked up $3 billion in assets and 515 advisors in one fell swoop. The Wall Street firm has acquired AXA Financial's Advest Group along with money manager Boston Advisors for $400 million, reports Bloomberg.

Boston Advisors manages balanced, equity and fixed-income portfolios for high net worth individuals, families, institutions, endowments and foundations. The money manager has 44 employees, according to its website.

Hartford, Connecticut-based Advest has advisors based in the Northeast, Midwest and Florida, according to Bloomberg. The company has a total of 1,560 employees. Advest also has a capital markets business.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.  

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