The Silence Is Deafening

Billy, if it's any solace, the PRUSec guys/gals went thru the same thing you guys/gals are going thru now. Hopefully WB learned a few things from that experience and won't keep you folks in the dark so long.

I wish all of you ladies/gents the very best. If I see something that I believe would interest you with respect to payout grids, retention packages, other info, I will post it.

retention scuttlebut I have heard is:

Chairman's and above 100%

Pres. to Chair 80-100%

Crest - PC 50-80%

below???

60-70 upfront, rest cliff vested after 6yrs

Don't dhoot the messenger, just relaying info as heard.

Shredder, Thanks, even if it’s B.S., it’s better than nothing at this point. Existent fiction is better than non-existent non-fiction… Nobody’s holding anyone to anything at this point. Care to name your source???

I have not heard such whinning since Paris Hilton was told she

was going to jail. ROFLMAO!!

Glad to see you are in the business to help your clients not line your pockets. ROFLMAO!!!

[quote=Hydeho]

I have not heard such whinning since Paris Hilton was told she

was going to jail. ROFLMAO!!

Glad to see you are in the business to help your clients not line your pockets. ROFLMAO!!!

[/quote]

Do you doubt these people are in the business to help their clients, because they are interested in their own welfare, and not wanting to be taken advantage of?

W/all due respect, I think thats a big leap, and pretty presumptious. I wouldnt judge them, having not walked in their shoes. There world is being changed and they have no control - dont begrudge them the right to be concerned for themsleves and their families.

Hydeho, Someday maybe you too will be in our business, for now, good luck on the used car lot and that pesky Series 7 test. You may go now.

just what I heard that’s all, thought I’d pass it along At this pt. it’s all hearsay… Having been in the bus. a while there are many sources inside and out.  Might also be a retention bonus for WS people staying. Not trying to line anyones pockets…just trying to pass along what I have heard is out there. Final #'s are probably a week out, at least.

Shredder. Pay HeyHo no mind. We brokers appreciate your input.

Broker010 - I have no intention to. Just came on here to see if there was info or comments that could be helpful in this time we are going thru. I do not intend to make a hobby of this site.  Just trying to pass what I have heard in this news vacuum we are all living with...good luck to all AGE'ers

Shredder. Like a said, thanks for your input. I wish this were a hobby for me. I’m an information junkie who’s Jonesing, so here I am. Thanks again.

Roflmao!!

Got my 7,8,31,63,65,Insurance, CFP and more alphabet stuff then you can name. As i posted in another thread this deal was done in less then 2 weeks. UBS was about to pounce or should i say sweet talk Bagby and then theree would have been a lot of empty real estate in STL, and you would be speaking a combonation of NY,German, French and Swiss. But i hear they have good watches!!

And yes the WB FA's will also get a retention payment. Not as much as AGE FA's, but hell its free money!!

Ho’. Blah, blah, F-ing Blah. You are a Super Nova of ignorance. Why even write here if you don’t have a dog in this fight, or are you a failing broker about to be shown the door, or is it Anger, frustration, insecurity, inferiority complex…?

[quote=Hydeho]

Roflmao!!

Got my 7,8,31,63,65,Insurance, CFP and more alphabet stuff then you can name. As i posted in another thread this deal was done in less then 2 weeks. UBS was about to pounce or should i say sweet talk Bagby and then theree would have been a lot of empty real estate in STL, and you would be speaking a combonation of NY,German, French and Swiss. But i hear they have good watches!!

And yes the WB FA's will also get a retention payment. Not as much as AGE FA's, but hell its free money!!

[quote=Hydeho]

Roflmao!!

Got my 7,8,31,63,65,Insurance, CFP and more alphabet stuff then you can name. As i posted in another thread this deal was done in less then 2 weeks. UBS was about to pounce or should i say sweet talk Bagby and then theree would have been a lot of empty real estate in STL, and you would be speaking a combonation of NY,German, French and Swiss. But i hear they have good watches!!

And yes the WB FA's will also get a retention payment. Not as much as AGE FA's, but hell its free money!!

[/quote]

Add these letters behind your name:  D I C K H E A D

I would have to think crest and above will be getting the lions share of the retention bonus.....which is great and well deserved, but after seeing the projections.. chairmans, 646. pres, 764  and crest 1408 for 08 that leaves about 3800 AGE brokers wondering. The two co's expect to close 230 or 250 offices? I don't think all 3800 will jump, but for these guy's to go from a 35 to 40% payout to 20or 30% Thats going to leave a lot of empty offices.

[quote=shredder]

retention scuttlebut I have heard is:

Chairman's and above 100%

Pres. to Chair 80-100%

Crest - PC 50-80%

below???

60-70 upfront, rest cliff vested after 6yrs

Don't dhoot the messenger, just relaying info as heard.

[/quote]

below crest getting 60-70K upfront.  Not sure about that part.  I think they would rather raise payouts.  Then they dont have to come up with the cash and can use it for crest and above.

Working backwards on the 1billion dollar broker payout pool, anyone have venture to guess what the avg gross for a chairmans producer, presidents producer, and crest club is?

If we know that, we can plug in the suggested numbers above and see where it fits into the 1BIL pool.

Bueller, that 60-70% of any payout upfront, the rest back ended. Don’t know if below crest gets anything

[quote=shredder]

retention scuttlebut I have heard is:

Chairman's and above 100%

Pres. to Chair 80-100%

Crest - PC 50-80%

below???

60-70 upfront, rest cliff vested after 6yrs

Don't dhoot the messenger, just relaying info as heard.

Shredder...

I was a Pru guy who got swallowed in the WB/PRU deal...I would be surprised if the retention deal for anyone is much above 20%...WB is not going to shell out another 3-4 Billion to keep an already captive crew....This deal is done!!!!  The only way a Chairman council member will get 100% of trailing is to go see the Merrill or UBS mgr in your hometown!!!

Pru's deal was 10% of trailing on production 300k and above....that meant a annual check of 5,000.00 gross for 6 yrs.....Obviously for me..It wasn't worth sticking around for higher account fees and a tiered money market....How do you sell that to you loyal clients???

Good luck to you all

PS...listen to ymh_ymh_ymh...she knows what she is talking about!!

OMICO, The Pru deal was done withing spitting distance of the market bottom (Oct 2002). At that time, brokers were being fired left and right. I’m not saying AGE will get lucrative retention offers, I am saying that market/business-climate conditions are readically different now than when Wach did the Pru deal. Our branch has been unable to hire and keep a single broker for the past three years, trainee or veteran. It seems odd that Wach would by the potential to have @3800 broker it doesn’t want. If there are no offers below Crest and only modest poffers above, I guarantee mass exodous, and I beleive Wach knows this. This business about AGE brokers being captives is pure BS.

What you have to understand is that WB didn't buy the broker(as you like to call yourself)they bought the client!!!  It is merely the assets that WB wants....Market bottom...market top, it doesn'treally matter.  The currency is higher today than it was in Oct 2002....

I am not looking for an argument, I just want all my friends at AGE to know that their world has changed.....Oh, by the way, the only way a client of AGE will be able to have their account custodied in STL is to transfer to ED Jones......your movin to Richmond

Peace

OMICO, I’m not looking to argue either, this is a constructive process, sharing points of view (hence “chat room”). Wachovia did NOT buy our clients. I keep hearing that and I want everyone reading this to understand beyond a shadow of a doubt that Wachovia does not own our clients, our books or us. 90% of my clients would have gone with me had I left up until now, but now that AGE will not exist anymore, I can guarantee close to 100% client retention if/when I go indy (those other 10% had loyalty to AGE and WILL NOT to Wachovia). Please, don’t buy into this panic mode of our clients suddenly being owned by someone else. There are a lot of disgruntled brokers out there who feel shorted by previous retention offers and AGE may be in the exact same boat, but we won’t sign 6 year retention deals that cut our payout, change our culture and tie our hands without substantial monetary compansation. We won’t make the mistakes made by so many Pru brokers. By the way, Wachovia is moving its headquarters to STL, so, no, we’re not going to Richmond. This has been widely publicized.

Know this broker 010, Wach bought and owns your client's assets. Meaning, if they want to give you a hard time about moving them, they will. What's a hard time? Try a restraining order to not make contact with your clients, suing the broker for assets taken and the benefits derived, suing the broker for nonsolicitation, suing the broker for noncompete etc....

You may think you own them but technically and legally, now you don't.

EZ, You’re wrong, it’s that simple. Wachovia doesn’t have my signature on a single piece of paper. A. G. Edwards has no contract with me. Wachovia cannot prevent me from contacting anyone I like; my clients, your clients or anyone one of you others’ clients out there… If I sign an retention offer, then I’ll be constrained (which I will not due unless I am HANDSOMELY paid). Right now, all I need is an ACAT form and every one of my clients goes where I go.

I am a recruiter with multiple ties to AG Edwards brokers (especially now!) Here's what we've heard through 3 seperate sources. These are 65% cash / 35% stock.

0-350K T12: 0%

350K-650K: 35%

650K-800K: 65%

800K+: 100%

Thoughts? Confirmation?

iwork, Thanks for the input. Can’t confirm or refute your numbers. You do know that well over half of AGE’s brokers produce less than $350?

Iwork4you,

Did that information come from brokers or management.  B/c quite frankly I don't think anyone really has a clue at this point!  It is a bit frustrating as the head-hunters and others are beating down our doors...but I guess we all need to deomonstrate some patience (as difficult as it is for me..)

That information came from sizable advisors who pressured upper management, saying they needed to know now. It is preliminary information, but again, we have heard it from 3 independent sources.

As far as recruiters calling, there are many advantages to learning more now. The main advantage is that when UBS announced their retention package, they attached a 30-day shot-clock to it. This effectively limited the amount of time that the Piper advisors had to do their due diligence on any other firms they might want to investigate.

From AGE home office: they expect to present the broker retention package the week of 06/11/2007, for those who haven’t seen this…

Broker010,

Thanks...I saw that on the system a while ago.  I am wondering if the conference call scheduled for Thursday will be fielding questions from the field.  Have you heard anything?

RETENTION PACKAGE UPDATE.....

Im speaking with insiders at AGE, the retention package has not been determined yet.  The amount of money to be allocated to each production level will be determined once all the "Nest Eggs" have been auctioned off within the local branch offices.....Auction is scheduled to take place sometime in Late August....

Stay tuned....

UncleC., Nope, haven't heard any details about the Thursday conference call. Call me pessimistic, but the fact they they are not making the original conference call available as a replay does not bode well for the next one. I'd be shocked if they took questions. Good luck!

OMICO, why even bother with posts like that? Are you just bored?

Actually I am a bit bored....I'll leave this alone...Good Luck to all...

Over and out

Broker,

I just heard from another source locally that the package may indeed be as described by 'iwork4u'.  Either way, I just want this all to end so we can get back to focusing on WORK!

UncleC, if that’s the package (that iwork4u cited), then “Mary, bar the door”, becuase there will be mass exodous. I’m with you I just want the details. I’m grinding out my production since the announcement, but neither my heart nor my head are really in it. I’d imagine production firm-wide is suffering.

[quote=Unclecharlie]

Broker,

I just heard from another source locally that the package may indeed be as described by 'iwork4u'.  Either way, I just want this all to end so we can get back to focusing on WORK!

[/quote]

Thank God the guessing game will end sometimes next week and then we can all get back to work!

Heard the exact same #'s. I question the $650k b/c PC is $550k and might fall more in line with rewarding Chairman’s/President’s/Crest

[quote=Broker010]UncleC, if that's the package (that iwork4u cited), then "Mary, bar the door", becuase there will be mass exodous. I'm with you I just want the details. I'm grinding out my production since the announcement, but neither my heart nor my head are really in it. I'd imagine production firm-wide is suffering.[/quote]

My major mutual fund trailer fee's hit this month...otherwise it will be an absolutely crappy production month for me. 

[quote=Unclecharlie]

Broker,

I just heard from another source locally that the package may indeed be as described by 'iwork4u'.  Either way, I just want this all to end so we can get back to focusing on WORK!

This may be a mistake, but...

I work for an independent recruiting firm in Houston that recruits retail advisors exclusively for MS nationwide. If you are interested, feel free to call my direct line at (713) 523-1828. I am generally in the office 7:45 AM - 4:30 PM Central time M-F. Serious inquiries only please.

I just put your number in the mens bathroom at Mikes Biker Bar in San Jose.  Good luck.

When the retention deal is announced next week and I was right, I will kindly ask you to remove it. It is beyond me why a broker, whose career depends on integrity, would do somethiong malicious like that. I am not a bad guy. I merely provide a service to individuals who are unhappy with their current situation and make available to them what I believe to be the best option on the street.

I have had lots of people tell me they know what the packages will look
like and they all have a different set of numbers.  If iwork4you
is correct, then WB just bought a bunch of empty buildings.