Wachovia/AG Edwards one month later

And those defections were planned prior to the merger announcement.

I've heard the same thing.  Non event.

My impression is that even though most fc’s felt betrayed at the outset, the retention numbers were enough to appease most. I’ve done the math and it makes financial sense to move elsewhere.

[quote=Reggin]

And those defections were planned prior to the merger announcement.

I've heard the same thing.  Non event.

Heard of about 15+ so far and more to come late summer and early fall.  If going indy, it takes time to take down space, shop for furniture, etc. so maybe a lot are laying low for the time being.   Would be dumb to rustle feathers if not ready to leave or still deciding which firm. 

Any idea how long it takes to prepare to move a large book of business? I used a transfer broker service to move 100+ million book from the koolaid stand company and it took months to properly prepare. Its not like you just unplug the coffee maker and walk.    

I’ve already had five defectiond from my TRAINING class. I think what bothers me most is the full court sales pitch from Bagby, Ludeman & Co. What they don’t realize is that we are salespeople and recognize when the phrase “our cultures are rooted in a common client first approach” has been repeated ad nauseum. Just received the letter today giving the road show cities, can’t wait for more lipstick to be applied to the proverbial pig

[quote=nyhavn17]I've already had five defectiond from my TRAINING class. I think what bothers me most is the full court sales pitch from Bagby, Ludeman & Co. What they don't realize is that we are salespeople and recognize when the phrase "our cultures are rooted in a common client first approach" has been repeated ad nauseum. Just received the letter today giving the road show cities, can't wait for more lipstick to be applied to the proverbial pig[/quote]

Training class defections?? Those don't really count. I know people that put the training class photo on the back of their door and X'd out people's faces as they left. Normally about 5 out of 30 are left in 3 yrs.

Lipstick, kool-aid, KY, whatever. You have nothing but time on your side to make any decision.

[quote=shredder]

[quote=nyhavn17]I’ve already had five defectiond from my TRAINING class. I think what bothers me most is the full court sales pitch from Bagby, Ludeman & Co. What they don’t realize is that we are salespeople and recognize when the phrase “our cultures are rooted in a common client first approach” has been repeated ad nauseum. Just received the letter today giving the road show cities, can’t wait for more lipstick to be applied to the proverbial pig[/quote]

Training class defections?? Those don't really count. I know people that put the training class photo on the back of their door and X'd out people's faces as they left. Normally about 5 out of 30 are left in 3 yrs.

Lipstick, kool-aid, KY, whatever. You have nothing but time on your side to make any decision.

Yes - Hull - They are in a gang

a.g.e.lians.. tell me why u would not  sit tight?.. collect another generous 401k contribution for current year.. your sales bonus on current year production  and then 1/6 of your fy 2006 in cash and TRY  wb for 1 yr and be employed on 3/1/09 and see how it will pan out.. we as a group,  the higher producing profitable revenue fc's control our destiny and the direction the firms can go.. SIGN NOTHING..god willing your production will increase say 10% minimum.. if wb becomes less accommondating or banklike we leave.. LOGIC OVER EMOTION.. my plan fwiw 

[quote=k@me8500]

a.g.e.lians.. tell me why u would not  sit tight?.. collect another generous 401k contribution for current year.. your sales bonus on current year production  and then 1/6 of your fy 2006 in cash and TRY  wb for 1 yr and be employed on 3/1/09 and see how it will pan out.. we as a group,  the higher producing profitable revenue fc's control our destiny and the direction the firms can go.. SIGN NOTHING..god willing your production will increase say 10% minimum.. if wb becomes less accommondating or banklike we leave.. LOGIC OVER EMOTION.. my plan fwiw 

[/quote]

You may write like a retard, but I agree with you.

Morgan's offering 125% upfront and another 25% a year over the next 3 years which equates 200% total package.  With Wach I get 40% with another 20% 11 years later.  which should I choose?  LOL

Do you realize what a huge effort it is to move a book?  Or you could just sit there, do what you’ve been doing, and just collect some free money.

[quote=skbroker]

Morgan's offering 125% upfront and another 25% a year over the next 3 years which equates 200% total package.  With Wach I get 40% with another 20% 11 years later.  which should I choose?  LOL

no matter what  it will be a different firm.  It either wachovia or other firm.  I could possibly make 800k over the next 3 years with morgan compared to 140k with wach basedon retention package.  How do you what kind of environment wach will be once all the dust have been settled.   Wachovia isn’t any different than other wirehouses that are based in new york from word on the street and I am going to do what is best for me and my clients.  No more AGE

[quote=Ferris Bueller]Do you realize what a huge effort it is to move a book?  Or you could just sit there, do what you’ve been doing, and just collect some free money.[/quote]

Ferris this guy is a moron, save your breath.  He’s willing to sign on to a 5-9 year contract without knowing what he’s leaving nor considering what he could make as an indy with his own business.  Let him jump to Morgan he gets what he deserves!

Joedabrkr

It must be nice to receive a check for 100G with a production of 250k after 20 years.  I guess the only option you have is to stay because no firm will look at you with your piker status.  I am trailing 450k in 7 years in the bus all through cold calls and referrals.  On the bright side for you when these ag brokers leave you can pick up those 15g accounts.   dipsh*t 

[quote=skbroker]

Joedabrkr

It must be nice to receive a check for 100G with a production of 250k after 20 years.  I guess the only option you have is to stay because no firm will look at you with your piker status.  I am trailing 450k in 7 years in the bus all through cold calls and referrals.  On the bright side for you when these ag brokers leave you can pick up those 15g accounts.   dipsh*t 

Seriously. Just leave.  Do not pass GO.  Pack up your book and move it to MS or whomever will pay you the biggest upfront money.  We're tired of hearing about how you are bitter.  Yadda Yadda Yadda.

But DO come back in 6 months.  I can't wait to hear how this turns out.

I guess ferris is your boyfriend.  For someone who owns his own firm you sure do spend alot of time talking about issues that does pertain to you.  you are a lonely loser who waits on the computer waiting for responses on the last post.  get a life.     

The topic was about AGE/WB but again quickly denigrates into a name calling contest. It is hard to believe that SOME of you are professionals entrusted to manage other peoples money.

Mine is bigger than yours! No its not…Yes it is…Fella’s…I can appreciate your overachievements.  I wouldnt leave for 300% not knowing the payout grid and product line up, and from experience when I moved my book from Edward Jones to AG Edwards I certainly wasn’t expecting to be bought.  However it has gone very well and now I got the enhanced payout and getting a check with the ability to walk again if need be, but won’t happen…this merger is going to work out well.  SK Broker I retained 72% of a $56mill book at 5 yrs in the biz however not without the many challenges of move and it took 3 months total of working 7am-8pm to do it, prepare yourself and your family if you consider a change.

Well said advisor28.  Unfortunately he’s hell bent on teaching Bagby a lesson so let him learn the hard way.

Good point Joe. It may take years for Wach to really 'boil the frog'. May look good in year one, year two...May take years to really look like its worth moving away from. In the meantime we get 1/6th of the retention for each year we wait and see. That also allows time to see how the other firms are changing in this period of consolidation.

I'll tell you my real fear. I move to another firm and that firm merges with Edward Jones. In that case... just throw the frog under a fast moving truck!  

joe

do you ever work?

[quote=skbroker]

joe

do you ever work?

[/quote]

Shouldn't you be packing up your things for the big move?  Bagby will be stunned.

been looking at all options for last few years.  this may be the perfect opportunity to go indy.  Every adviser who is worth their weight in my office is considering all options.  I’m still waiting for bagby to call me with my offer from his 15 million discretionary checkbook given to him from danny for “key” people to make this merger run smoothly.  of course, i’m not holding my breath. 

Did anyone really think AGE FA’s would bail before collecting their checks for fee based business August 10th?

[quote=liquid]Did anyone really think AGE FA's would bail before collecting their checks for fee based business August 10th?[/quote]

There's even bigger money down the road: 401k/excessive profit sharing and sales bonus. The only people leaving between now and then are those that had been planning this for a while and the merger has given them "the perfect reason" or the lower end producers that think it's greener on the other side and they are in for a MAJOR wake-up call.

Anyone leaving before February when the 1/6 option pays would miss the 401k/sales bonus anyway.  Anyone who stays past 401k/sales bonuses in Mid March would have to give the 1/6th money back. 

Also, don’t forget AGE’s crazy rule in the 401k about them keeping half of the firm match account money in the plan for 2 december 31st’s.  Why do you think they sent the retirement plan docs to everyone in an email 2 weeks back as a subtle reminder.  For those waiting till 08, you won’t be completely rolled over till jan 2010. Look it up. Maybe they’ll be nice, but this happened to someone I know who left. 

[quote=GoingIndy???]Anyone leaving before February when the 1/6 option pays would miss the 401k/sales bonus anyway.  Anyone who stays past 401k/sales bonuses in Mid March would have to give the 1/6th money back. 

Also, don’t forget AGE’s crazy rule in the 401k about them keeping half of the firm match account money in the plan for 2 december 31st’s.  Why do you think they sent the retirement plan docs to everyone in an email 2 weeks back as a subtle reminder.  For those waiting till 08, you won’t be completely rolled over till jan 2010. Look it up. Maybe they’ll be nice, but this happened to someone I know who left. 
[/quote]
You are correct on the 401k…I think all thses guys that are jumping should do so soon…I will welcome their clients w open arms

[quote=nestegg] [quote=GoingIndy????]Anyone leaving before February when the 1/6 option pays would miss the 401k/sales bonus anyway.  Anyone who stays past 401k/sales bonuses in Mid March would have to give the 1/6th money back. 

Also, don't forget AGE's crazy rule in the 401k about them keeping half of the firm match account money in the plan for 2 december 31st's.  Why do you think they sent the retirement plan docs to everyone in an email 2 weeks back as a subtle reminder.  For those waiting till 08, you won't be completely rolled over till jan 2010. Look it up. Maybe they'll be nice, but this happened to someone I know who left.  [/quote]
You are correct on the 401k...I think all thses guys that are jumping should do so soon...I will welcome their clients w open arms ;)
[/quote]

I think the fc’s leaving in the near term might be the ones doing under 300k tt who didn’t get much of anything in the way of retention money. I am sure this won’t upset WB as they are trying to weed them out anyway under their current comp plan.

The first wave will leave before August 31st. From what I'm hearing the numbers will surprise many. We will know in about 6 weeks.

Entire AGE offices are going to join firms like Stiffel or Janney who are using this as a great reason to establish offices in cities where they have never been heretofore.

Wachovia will be disappointed by the retention.

[quote=Devil’sAdvocate]

Entire AGE offices are going to join firms like Stiffel or Janney who are using this as a great reason to establish offices in cities where they have never been heretofore.

Wachovia will be disappointed by the retention.

I would be shocked with those names above.  I've heard of a couple offices looking but with the 2 larger indy names. It especially makes sense with the duplicating offices so the manager can still be the manager, get a piece of the action, and prolong the opportunity for smaller producers/rookies to get up and running.   
[/quote]

First off, not every overlapping office is going to close.  Look at Legg + SB, not every office eveporated....Same with UBS + Piper.Secondly, the thought that whole offices will defect in mass is nonsense.  There will be attrition, no doubt. MASS ATTRITIONon a branch level= not happening. Remember, managers are prohibited from "raiding" offices, so the idea that they can just 'change the name on the door' is a fantasy.  Bottom line, time is on our side.

[quote=Devil’sAdvocate]

Entire AGE offices are going to join firms like Stiffel or Janney who are using this as a great reason to establish offices in cities where they have never been heretofore.

Wachovia will be disappointed by the retention.

Yeah the mass exodus of offices is a dream made up by recruiters…not heard an talk of this anywhre in my region.

[quote=Devil’sAdvocate]

Entire AGE offices are going to join firms like Stiffel or Janney who are using this as a great reason to establish offices in cities where they have never been heretofore.

Wachovia will be disappointed by the retention.

[/quote]

Let's not forget that Stiffel is based out of St.Louis. I know for a fact that some of their senior exec's are scoping out new office space in city's that they currently don't have a office but soon will. Although mass exodus is a bit extreme, expect Wachovia management to be surprised at retention leakage. 

Last week Wachovia began holding conferences in St.Louis for all of the branch managers from accross the country.  The conference began with Bagby giving a 5 min introduction to WS senior exec Danny Ludemann...Danny then proceeded to speak for the next 2 hours laying out the vision and execution of the merger & then answering questions.  Bagby sat there and looked like a clown during the entire meeting...funny thing seeing what was once the big fish in the sea, now only a guppy.  It is clear to many long time AGE brokers that Bag's will not play a major role in the new organization & they feel betrayed & sold out by bag's. They are a quiet but powerful group that will speak with their feet in the near term.

I will agree that Stifel’s package they sent did stand out…but there are alot of drawbacks I can see…definitely a step back in time to the OLD AGE culture…but also a big step back in name recognition, products technology etc…and I think by going to any of the smaller regionals you will be going through 2 transitions in teh next few years…one to the new firm and another when they are also bought out. Just delaying the inevitable for a little longer

[quote=shredder]

I would be shocked with those names above.  I’ve heard of a couple offices looking but with the 2 larger indy names. It especially makes sense with the duplicating offices so the manager can still be the manager, get a piece of the action, and prolong the opportunity for smaller producers/rookies to get up and running.   
[/quote]

First off, not every overlapping office is going to close.  Look at Legg + SB, not every office eveporated....Same with UBS + Piper.Secondly, the thought that whole offices will defect in mass is nonsense.  There will be attrition, no doubt. MASS ATTRITIONon a branch level= not happening. Remember, managers are prohibited from "raiding" offices, so the idea that they can just 'change the name on the door' is a fantasy.  Bottom line, time is on our side.

Re the BOM meetings. They have been going on since early June and are all complete. The general consensus is that this could be something special.  Danny seems like a straight shooter. Not everyone has drunk the kool-aide but the vast majority are very positive on this whole thing going forward. Most that I know and speak with are over this whole “we’ve been sold out thing”.  We all know Bagby will have no power in the new structure. I’ll wager that he is outta hear come Jan '09.  Look, while everyone from WS got some reecognition from the attendees, Bagby got stone cold silence when he came up.  The bottom line is most BOM’s are pragmatic, they’ll see how things shape up. It’s way to early to be making plans about jumping ship. Most will continue to do their due diligence but the overall the mood at the end of these meetings is extremely positive. I know that is not what some of you want to hear but that’s the truth.  Will there be some attrition, YES and probably greater than the 3% # WS is tossing around. Beside if AGE got rid of the bottom 20% (with over 10 yrs in the bus.) I don’t think anyone would miss them anyway.  Will some BOM’s lose their jobs, probably. Most won’t. Believe me, there are plenty of BOM’s that are ready to hang up the cleats and just produce.  This could be their “perfect reason”. Stifel might get some, Janney might get some, but they’ll be table scraps and not a whole lot more.  By the time we know more of the details and the transition is well under way, it will be 6 months from now.  I think people will be pleasantly surprised at what this could be and how little turn over there really is. FYI - it looks like if you take the cash bonus, the loan is forgiven monthly. If you take the installement, it is forgiven in 1/6’s. Just another reason to show me the money.

I agree w Shredder…exactly the same things I have heard

BTW, according to RR, WS will open Finet to WS people doing at least 250,000 w/ 5 yrs LOS. Eventually.

Actually, the article says a lot of things that were brought up here (almost like they come here for unsolicited opinions).

[quote=Whomitmayconcer]BTW, according to RR, WS will open Finet to WS people doing at least 250,000 w/ 5 yrs LOS. Eventually.

Actually, the article says a lot of things that were brought up here (almost like they come here for unsolicited opinions).[/quote]

...I've noticed that also...this place is like a gold mine for article ideas...

It’s smart of them, although I/we would like a prop now and again.

For those wondering if RJ is attracting AGE reps the answer is yes.  Here at RJ the regional sends a blast email to all fa's when a new transfer broker is hired.  They list his/her name, office that he is joining, length of service in the business and the firm he came from. 

There has been several dozen AGE rr's hired in the last 6 weeks. Some of them were complete teams. 

This trend will only snowball once AG fa's realize they will soon have a barcode on their head.

Thanks for the update, tampon.

Nice one!

This trend will only snowball once AG fa's realize they will soon have a barcode on their head.

[/quote]

[quote=Tarpon]

For those wondering if RJ is attracting AGE reps the answer is yes.  Here at RJ the regional sends a blast email to all fa's when a new transfer broker is hired.  They list his/her name, office that he is joining, length of service in the business and the firm he came from. 

There has been several dozen AGE rr's hired in the last 6 weeks. Some of them were complete teams. 

This trend will only snowball once AG fa's realize they will soon have a barcode on their head.

[/quote]

The last broker head count I saw showed that AGE was down to less than 5,400 rep's.  I find it amazing that they had over 6000 rep's at this time last year.  I'm hearing that the majority of the rep's going to RJ are going to the independent plateform. That's interesting that so many are turning their backs on wall street retention packages.  Could this suggest a trend?

 [/quote]

The last broker head count I saw showed that AGE was down to less than 5,400 rep's.  I find it amazing that they had over 6000 rep's at this time last year.  I'm hearing that the majority of the rep's going to RJ are going to the independent plateform. That's interesting that so many are turning their backs on wall street retention packages.  Could this suggest a trend?

[/quote]

5400=Don't know where you come up with that crazy #!! The number is just over 6500 as of June. Down from about 6800 same time last year.

Bah the press doesn’t need real numbers. It’s just easier if they make them

up.

Is anyone hearing of more defections? I’ve seen a couple more, again by lower producers squeezed out at the 300k tt level. They went to other regionals.

I believe that the real defections have not yet begun. Many will take the path of least resistance until summer (or so) of 2008, when the real changes (like pay-cuts) will begin being announced. There are many of us who are putting together transition plans at a comfortable pace and will actually leave sometime between the end of this year and 3rd quarter of next. IMHO there will be substantial attrition. We will see how many put their autographs on the lump sum retention package agreement (by August 31). I reckon that many who don’t intend to stay indefinitely won’t put their signatures on anything that contains the words “Non-Solicitation Agreement” no matter how break-away they claim it is.

[quote=YHWY]I believe that the real defections have not yet begun. Many will take the path of least resistance until summer (or so) of 2008, when the real changes (like pay-cuts) will begin being announced. There are many of us who are putting together transition plans at a comfortable pace and will actually leave sometime between the end of this year and 3rd quarter of next. IMHO there will be substantial attrition. We will see how many put their autographs on the lump sum retention package agreement (by August 31). I reckon that many who don't intend to stay indefinitely won't put their signatures on anything that contains the words "Non-Solicitation Agreement" no matter how break-away they claim it is. [/quote]

So what happens if the "pay-cuts" don't materilize as you suggest?  This whole thing really depends on how they structure this organiztion after Oct 2008.  Everyone is doing DD, you'd be a fool not to. But why would I NOT take the 'loan' and at least earn 8-10 months of the bonus? I am sure that you have read the 'sample' agreement'? I've had my laywer look it over and there is nothing nafarious about it.  IMHO I think you'll be surprised at the # of FC's that 'take the money'.  There will always be attrition, substantial attrition, I think not. Time will tell.

'Shredder,
 The short answer, in my case, is “I don’t trust them”.
 IMHO we will end up with just about exactly the payout schedule WB has now (that comes from input from my BOM and regional manager). IF that comes to pass, then my fixed monthly expense at WB will be $8000.00 based on a 20% payout up to$10k /mo. I will then get 50% payout LESS ticket charges. At LPL (or RayJay Indy, for that matter) I can have fixed expenses of $7000-$8000 (high end) and then keep a 90% + payout (in my case, it’s be 93% at LPL), less ticket charges. Even if they sweeten the WB payout (slim chance, IMHO), it will still be nothing like LPL/RayJay. These facts made it an easy choice for me. I wish everyone best of luck, whichever way they go.

The last week of July and first week in August over 17 million in production left.  1.8 bil in assets.  That was pale in comparrison to last week.  I will update as the numbers come in.  Several big ones in and around St Louis went Friday.

[quote=agevet]

The last week of July and first week in August over 17 million in production left.  1.8 bil in assets.  That was pale in comparrison to last week.  I will update as the numbers come in.  Several big ones in and around St Louis went Friday.

[/quote]

I made my jump to independence over that bloody time frame that you speak of. Gawd I never knew it would be soooo sweet....yup it's a ton of work moving a book. I've worked every weekend and i'm awake at 3am many nights thinking about what I need to accomplish the next morning. But with nearly 80% of my book now in acat it's starting to get really fun...damn i've filled out so many new account app's that I have nightmares about them...lol. I actually think I'm going to take a day off this weekend.  Several AGE reps are telling me many more will abandon the mothership in the coming months. As I've always said here...the substantial fallout will surprise many & of course time will tell. 

Are most of these brokers leaving from a certain region or is it nation wide.  They are allready making changes to our fee based platforms which will be announced soon and some of these changes, no matter what they say, are notin the best interest of the client.

[quote=7yrage]Are most of these brokers leaving from a certain region or is it nation wide.  They are allready making changes to our fee based platforms which will be announced soon and some of these changes, no matter what they say, are notin the best interest of the client.[/quote]

I've heard of a couple teams in FL and some pretty big defections in the midwest, IA, MI, etc. Some with BOM's going and taking some of the branch w/ them. I don't know what's conjecture and what's not.  Have not heard of any changes to the fee based platform but most of the WB reps I know., and from what I've seen, say the WB fee based platform is much better than what we have.

I know a lot on the fence and 1 branch that lost 7-8 guys including the branch manager. 

We had a private conf. call with a WS home office guy and he danced around every major issue.  Anybody who buys into the “best practices” sales pitch will figure it out soon enough.  Remember they bought the company, so they can use their model, which is successful.  When they answer direct questions with “this has worked for us in the past” or “we’ve had success here”, I think that says where they’re heading.  Which is fine, its their company. 

This is not a merger of equals.  Don’t forget Pru financial owns 38% of WS and many of that wirehouse background is inside WS management.

According to the wholesalers I’ve known for a long time there’s going to be some big losses in the upcoming weeks. 

Personally, I think my branch will be cut almost in half from our current 15.

GoingIndy…
 Keep in mind these little nuggets: AGE owns (debt-free) about two million square feet of prime office space in St. Louis (I don’t know the going rate of office space there, but maybe you do), in which Wachovia seems to have found value. PLUS, AGE holds about two billion dollars in cash (That’s about $2,000,000,000.00). In addition, AGE has $0 (that’s zero dollars) in corporate debt.
 I’m not a math whiz, but I seem to get the impression that, perhaps, AGE’s entire sales force wasn’t the real objective. Just my humble opinion.
 

I know of several large producers in the STL area that have moved in the

past few weeks. No doubt many more will follow.

I am curious about the AGE top producers that have agreed to address the rank-and-file on AGE-Net this week. Were they compensated for this, specifically?
 Either way, it reinforces my distrust of the entire “merger” ordeal.

Have you prayed for guidance?

I have seen the light!

[quote=Guests]GoingIndy...
 Keep in mind these little nuggets: AGE owns (debt-free) about two million square feet of prime office space in St. Louis (I don't know the going rate of office space there, but maybe you do), in which Wachovia seems to have found value. PLUS, AGE holds about two billion dollars in cash (That's about $2,000,000,000.00). In addition, AGE has $0 (that's zero dollars) in corporate debt.
 I'm not a math whiz, but I seem to get the impression that, perhaps, AGE's entire sales force wasn't the real objective. Just my humble opinion.
 
[/quote]

The guys at Wachovia that put this deal together are complete geniuses.  Of course they don't care if they loose 35%-40% of the brokers because they not only made a killing on the real estate plus the cash on the books but most importantly they now have a significant footprint in the midwest & a red carpet into the lucrative midwest west urban markets like chicago, detroit & st.louis where they can expand their banking empire. They will only use their new "profit center" AGE to implement a much more profitable goal. And to think they only paid 6.8billion & got much of that back from the balance sheet...wow!

IMHO, if the Wachovia team were so genius, they may have chosen to keep the 120 year old firm’s name on some of their signs. But, what do I know. (all together now, “Very little!”

[quote=Guests]GoingIndy…
 Keep in mind these little nuggets: AGE owns (debt-free) about two million square feet of prime office space in St. Louis (I don’t know the going rate of office space there, but maybe you do), in which Wachovia seems to have found value. PLUS, AGE holds about two billion dollars in cash (That’s about $2,000,000,000.00). In addition, AGE has $0 (that’s zero dollars) in corporate debt.
 I’m not a math whiz, but I seem to get the impression that, perhaps, AGE’s entire sales force wasn’t the real objective. Just my humble opinion.
 

[/quote]

Great point above.  Bagby had little confidence in the firm longer term and Danny couldn’t say yes fast enough after getting the phone call. 

I bet the boys and girls that went to greenbrier got a little sweetner in there deal!!!

You still have to find assets regardless of staying or going. I figure my book goes up if I stay and gets depleted 25% if I leave. I am willing to give WB some rope.

I am guessing those front money deals will be there in year.

The real question is; What is ultimately best for the client? 

I still haven't gotten over a statement stuffer in May '05  to my clients telling them about their mere 5% increase in commissions followed up with an email to managers explaining that while in a number of cases the increase was actually 20-25% "based on a few normalized trading days the overall increase in revenue to the firm was only 5%" This while not being able to adequately explain why a non-qualified account had a nearly 30% lower payout than a qualified account on the exact same trade.  I could go on, but no reason to. I know some great AGE FCs with significant books who are staying put because they believe it will be best for their clients - good for them. I can respect that. Anyone who stays because its the path of least resistance or because of some notion that they'll land some largess when others leave - not believing its the best firm for their clients - pretty tough to respect that.

As far as depleting your own book - didn't happen. In a few short weeks I had over 80% of my assets and nearly 95% of my revenue in house.

Anyone who stays because its the path of least resistance…

 This will be the main (and only remotely rational) reason any of the 3000+ $300k/yr brokers could give for staying. Unless WB dramatically changes its policies, both for our clients (ie: sweeping cash into 1.5% WB accoount) and for the FC’s (i.e. WB’s payout grid will KILL anyone below about $400k/yr.) it will be a lose, lose, win, with the only winner being WB. The chances, IMHO, of WB changing these (and other) policies meaningfully in the “new, combined firm” are slim and none (leaning heavily toward none).

Maybe if you stay at WB you can be more then a 300-400k broker. Naw i guess not. You would actually have to do some work.

ROFLMAO

Hydeho,
 Please read more carefully. I never disclosed what my production is. I was simply making an observation that over 1/2 of AGE brokers do $300k or under and what affect this merger is likely to have on them.
 If you wanna get into a personal cyber-altercation, I’m not interested. I’ve wasted WAY too much time with that here in the past.

I will add… I just received my Pro-Forma Report from LPL (I await the same from RayJay) and I don’t care what your production is, it’s no contest. Hell, it ain’t even the same sport. We are all in this to grow our businesses. Do you want to do it to benefit your wirehouse or your family?

That is the stuff.  You have to own your book.  In writing.

As a person that went through a merger a few years ago all I can say is run and don't look back. When they say things will be the same they are always lying.

During a merger is a perfect time to convince your clients to leave because you can tell them you are leaving because the company is doing things you don't agree with and not in their best interest. You are the hero for saving them from the awful company.

This my 1st post because it took me 2 years to leave after a merger and it was the most miserable 2 years of my career so I wanted to warn others.

I don't know that anyone is saying "things will the same". Danny acknowledges that not everyone will like everything coming down from above. I don't hear a lot of negatives from fcs that work at WB which gives me some sense of comfort.

Sounds like we have a manager here.  Don’t worry your secret is safe.