Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Mason Braswell, InvestmentNews – It’s homecoming season for some wirehouse advisers. As headcount continues to decline and competition for assets of veteran advisers grows, firms like Bank of America Merrill Lynch are now more comfortable extending bonuses and employment offers to what was once considered an off-limits group: advisers who had left the firm to join a competitor.
By Shreya Agarwal, OnWallStreet – Morgan Stanley clinched a $3.3 million producer from rival UBS. Marc Kessler managed client assets worth $658 million while at UBS before making the move, according to On Wall Street’s Top 40 Under 40 rankings. Kessler was featured as No. 27 on the original ranking, based on production figures. A second ranking, according to AUM, dropped him to No. 16.
Deborah Aronson Quoted – By Alessandra Malito, InvestmentNews – RBC Wealth Management, the Royal Bank of Canada’s investment advisory and brokerage division, has nabbed two Merrill Lynch financial advisers with $1.2 billion in assets under administration. Deborah Aronson, senior consultant at Diamond Consultants in Morristown, N.J., agreed that there is a growing discontent as the wirehouses increase in size, especially over the last few years.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Michael Wursthorn, The Wall Street Journal – As Barclays PLC’s U.S. wealth advisers mull a deal to join Stifel Financial Corp. , several have left to join Merrill Lynch recently.
Howard Diamond Quoted – By John Aidan Byrne, New York Post – Merrill Lynch’s Thundering Herd is having a huge crisis of confidence.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Michael Wursthorn, The Wall Street Journal – For Wall Street brokers, a promotion to branch manager once was a career-crowning achievement. Now, many shun the job.
By Wendy Leung – Too often, advisors assume that all of the major wirehouses are the same and that moving from one to the next would be going from the proverbial frying pan into the fire. But, is that really the case?
By Maddy Perkins, OnWallStreet – Two former UBS advisors managing over $120 million in client assets have moved to Aegis Capital. Brother and sister advisors Jorge and Teresa Bravo left the wirehouse to join the New York-based independent broker-dealer, according to a statement from the firm. The team will work from a new branch office in Puerto Rico.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Michael Wursthorn, OnWallStreet – Merrill Lynch has hired a team of Morgan Stanley financial advisers managing more than $1 billion for its ultrawealthy client group, as the big brokerage firms continue to compete with one another for multi-million-dollar clients and advisers.
By Mindy Diamond, WealthManagement.com – Every year, the wirehouses tweak their compensation grids. And from the end of last year through the beginning of this one, our telephones have been ringing off the proverbial hook with advisors that were extremely upset with their wirehouses’ announced compensation changes.