Macquarie Private Wealth has poached six staff from the broking and financial planning division of Wilson HTM Investment Group.
"We did lose a group of people yesterday to Macquarie," Wilson managing director Andrew Coppin told InvestorDaily, without specifically naming names.
The staff who quit the listed financial services firm are believed to be Peter Day, Carl Daffy, Jarrod Daffy, Richard Nettlefold, Brett Nichols and Ben Rickman.
Coppin would not be drawn on the details of how Macquarie lured the six across, however, InvestorDaily understands significant sign-on payments were offered.
When asked by InvestorDaily about the poaching and payment claims, a Macquarie spokesperson said the company did not comment on market speculation.
The staff departures come just days after Coppin told InvestorDaily the firm had made a number of staff cuts due to poor investment markets.
Last week, he said a "couple of brokers and one planner" were let go from the listed group.
The staff changes were in line with the company's focus on cost reductions, particularly amid difficult markets, he said.
Last month, the company said it was working through cost reduction measures in response to market conditions.
Asked whether he was concerned the latest departures would create unease among the company's clients, he said he believed they would not.
"I think long-term clients can see the value in a relationship with a firm like Wilson HTM . they [clients] will make a choice to stay with Wilson," he said.
The departures would not derail the company from continuing with its strategy, he said.
The recruitment of the six Wilson staffers follows Macquarie's announcement on Monday that it had appointed 13 new advisers across six of its state offices in the first half of 2012.
Angela Hayward, Tom Maxwell, Mark O'Flynn and Steven Menyweather have joined as private client advisers in the Brisbane office. Katerina Gagliostro and Wesley Hui have joined as associate advisers.
The Perth and Adelaide offices have appointed associate advisers Alexandra Clarke and Frank Zappia to their respective teams.
In Adelaide, Macquarie has appointed Michael Sanderson as a senior private wealth manager.
Senior private client advisers Joel Wright and Tony Gaudry have joined the teams in Manly, Sydney, and Canberra respectively.
Danny Chiu and Simon Vanstone have joined the Sydney team as private client advisers.
