February 22, 2024
Louis Diamond Quoted
By Glenn Koch
Bank of America Chair and Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan says there’s plenty of runway for his firm’s wealth management unit to get more production out of its advisors and increase profits.
And while the bank chief, speaking Wednesday at the BofA Securities Financial Services Conference in Miami, seemed to rule out cuts to broker compensation, which he noted accounts for about 50 cents of every dollar made in the unit, he said the firm needs to do more to help advisors contribute to the bottom line. That entails adding advisors, increasing digitization and helping the sales force boost cross-selling of BofA products, he said.
Merrill co-head Lindsay Hans said last year that Merrill has resumed pursuing experienced advisors “for the right markets,” and the firm has recently been aggressively chasing large advisor teams, according to Louis Diamond, president of advisor recruiting firm Diamond Consultants, based in Morristown, New Jersey.
“It seems like they’re going to be more selective, depending upon the market and size of the business. But they’ve definitely opened up their checkbook — or are opening up their checkbook — for larger teams,” he added.
