A prominent wirehouse rep and his Hawaii-based team, who left Merrill Lynch in September,  have formed a new advisory firm, according to Investment News.

Carl Choy and two partners registered their new firm, CKW Financial Group, with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, the publication said.

Mr Choy owns at least 50 per cent of the Honolulu-based firm, according to the firm's ADV form, and his partners, Lynne Kinney and Ronald Wo, control the remainder.

The team departed Merrill less than a year after leaving Morgan Stanley in October 2008. At that time, the team had about $900 million in assets under management, according to a lawsuit Morgan Stanley filed against the brokers at the time.

A job advertising website said the firm was seeking to fill the post of a chief compliance officer.