Bank of America

Bank Of America-Merrill Lynch Ready to Exit Protocol

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:

According to AdvisorHUB, many signs including the cross-selling, Merrill Edge, US Trust, bank referrals, team analysts and new non-compete contracts, have showed Bank of America/ Merrill Lynch are ready to exit Protocol.

One manager on the East coast at Merrill said the deal structures that Merrill is putting together right now have given advisors many significant pauses. Almost all of the deals have outsized total percentages but also contract lengths. And there is an active program to recruit back Merrill advisors that left the firm 5 – 6 years ago and offer them an extremely lucrative payment. The problem is how the firm can be assured that it will recoup all of that cash.

A director in Merrill Florida branch was concerned about analyst non-compete contracts. The new contracts for team analysts and junior advisors and the non-compete language are about the way to ensure that some members of larger teams are forced to stay at the firm should the senior members leave. Reps are concerned that similar provisions will apply to the tenured advisors.

Other voices are from NYC. They project that Merrill is going to lock up as many legacy recruits as possible, discontinue recruiting, pull out of the Protocol, and elicit non-compete and non-solicit contracts.

The attorneys of Eccleston Law LLC represent investors and advisers nationwide in securities and employment matters. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 65 years in delivering the highest quality legal services.

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Wirehouse Reps Move Dramatically to Fee-based Model

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law Offices:

Wirehouses are shifting away from a commission-based brokerage model to a fee-based business model. Over the past decade, the number of fee-only and fee based advisers has increased to 84% at the wirehouses, compared with about 57% for the rest of the brokerage industry.

The challenge is to find an appropriate price for advice which is competitive with what others in the industry are charging. Some advisors charge between 0.75% and 1% of assets under management as an annual fee rather than drawing commissions.  In order to offset the decline in commission, advisers undertaking the move must be prepared to generate revenue from different sources or to make the shift incrementally.

The fee-based account gives advisers a more stable source of revenue that, over time, allows them to market and to focus on existing clients.

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Wirehouses Hunt for Bank Channel Talent

From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law Offices:

Wirehouses are recruiting top advisors from the bank channel. As the broker-dealer industry becomes more competitive, even big firms are becoming much more flexible and open in their recruitment in order to ensure success and meet their aggressive recruiting goals.

The effort historically has been risky. Most bank advisers build their businesses through company referrals rather than prospecting, so clients often are less willing to transfer their assets. Moreover, bank advisers pose legal risk. While most brokerage firms have signed the Protocol for Broker Recruiting, banks have shied away.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a member of the protocol, for example, but that does not apply to advisers in its bank channel, Merrill EdgeJ.P. Morgan Securities signed on earlier this year, but clarified that it was limited only to the few hundred advisers in its private client group and excluded the JPMorgan Chase Private Bank.

In addition, bank advisors face tighter restrictions on what client information can be taken. Morgan Stanley was sued earlier this year when it recruited a trust adviser from PNC Bank. PNC accused the firm of helping the adviser misappropriate trade secrets. Bank advisers have employment contracts that have non-solicits or non-competes, or event sometimes a garden leave provision of 30, 60, or 90 days. Competent legal counsel, such as Eccleston Law, should be retained to review and consult.

Another concern is that many bank advisers are working with mass- affluent clients with less than $250,000 in assets, while most wirehouse accounts require investible assets of greater than $250,000 for the adviser to receive a payout. Still, wirehouse managers are willing to take on the risk, especially if a successful bank hire can provide a connection to a big-name client.

The attorneys of Eccleston Law Offices represent investors and advisers nationwide in securities and employment matters. Our attorneys draw on a combined experience of nearly 50 years in delivering the highest quality legal services.

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