OFFICIAL-CORRECTED-UBS hires seven advisers from BofA Merrill Lynch

(UBS AG corrects reference in fourth paragraph to say that Chiate and Guinane joined the Irvine office, not the Newport Beach office; lead paragraph reference is fixed to "three of its California offices," from two.)

NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) - UBS AG's Wealth Management Americas unit said Friday that it had hired three financial adviser teams and one individual adviser from Bank of America Merrill Lynch for three of its California offices.

The seven advisers UBS hired managed a total of $1.8 billion in client assets. Advisers James Axelson and Barry Porter, who managed $550 million at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, joined UBS's Newport Beach office and report to Ron Meraz.

Christopher Gaal and Jeffrey Hamilton, who managed $575 million at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, also joined the Newport Beach office and report to Meraz.

James Chiate and Anthony Guinane, who managed $500 million at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, joined the Irvine office, and report to Michael Goldfader.

David Mandel, who managed $175 million at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, joined UBS's Encino office and reports to Robert East.

UBS declined to comment on the advisers' annual revenue production while at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

All of the advisers joined UBS on Oct. 29, the company said. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch spokeswoman declined to comment on the moves.

(Reporting by Sam Forgione in New York; Editing by Kenneth Barry)