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75% of Client Managers laid off at B of A today

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Mar 21, 2009 6:14 pm

Yeah, I agree with One-Eyed Man.



Many clients appreciated sending a quick email or talking directly to their CM when they needed something done. Now, after they were sold the PB&I model, they are getting kicked out and will have to deal with the PRC until those people are also canned.   



So, the way I see it, I will have to assume the CMs role in order to keep my clients from being even more pissed off without any compensation of course!



One question…not all CMs were canned, so what is their new role going to be?

Mar 21, 2009 6:15 pm

The one-eyed man <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I agree with you on most points.  Leaving those CM's in until April is ridiculous!  All the CM's are doing is having meetings with their top clients (the one's I never met) and using the current negative situation to convince the clients to follow them.  Also, what do you think a CM will do with these loan's in there pipeline?  Close them or maybe send those loans to there buddy down the street and get paid CA$H. 

 

 I disagree that any clients they steal will have any effect on me for one simple reason.  I never met those large clients!   They horded those relationships because it was a power struggle and they wanted to be the go to person.  That is BAC’s biggest mistake!

 

How can you say this is delicious irony?  BAI didn't buy ML it was BAC.  Also, BAI will be extinct because we are being rolled into ML and for me that’s a BIG upgrade in technology, products, compliance and most of all a firm who actually wants their brokers to produce.

 

At the end of the day this will all settle down and we can get back to work.   I look forward to the day when our blogs on Registered Rep turn positive......

 
Mar 21, 2009 6:26 pm

Omar:

  With respect to the few CMs remaining, my understanding is they are acting as banking specialists and may be available to help out clients who have a pressing matter and cannot go through the PRC.  Obviously, those CMs are going to be slammed with work and probably will give their own clients priority.   As you probably know, there is an All Hands call on Tuesday for the alleged purpose of rolling out the "new" business model.  The fallout from that call should be interesting, particularly given most of the BAI reps were at BAI because of the "old" model (i.e., being teed up with prospects through the CMs) and the fact that model was not the "wirehouse" model (i.e., eat what you kill).    A wise man once told me "always have three outs."  Good advice in these times.   
Mar 21, 2009 6:26 pm

Do you all, and BAI management for that matter, think for one minute that a client with a million bucks is going to be okay with calling an 800 number or going into an understaffed banking center for their banking needs? The model could have been amazing, but every year since its introduction they screwed it up with stupid and petty incentive plan changes. Now that the ship is sinking, this is where they decide that they can cut costs. The Merrill model won’t work here because Merrill never did the volume of banking transactions that BAI clients do. This will be one of those storied failures that entire books are written about. ALL HAIL THE THUNDERING TURD!!!

Mar 21, 2009 6:29 pm

BAI?



I wouldn’t worry about CMs taking clients anywhere. What other firm has an equivalent position and/or is hiring? Also, unless those clients have investment accounts with BAI, they are unlikely to move their banking relationship. Most CMs were NOT great relationship managers.



As far as loans in the pipeline, the CMs are probably going to hand them off to their local AE, which should have been done in the first place.

Mar 21, 2009 6:42 pm

BAI?:

  I hear your frustration and I understand it.  I haven't been with BAI for as long as you apparently have, so I have not seen all of the b.s. you have had to put up with (I have heard about it from other FAs).  I also have read all of the posts on this forum regarding BAI and understand the issues.    My experience with BAI is quite different from yours.  I was lucky enough to have a couple of very good CMs who were willing to put their best clients/prospects in front of me.  So I will miss those ladies and that business model.   I'm not naive...I knew that when BAC purchased ML, BAI would be rolled up into ML in one form or fashion.  What I meant about the irony comment is for being "the smartest guys in the room (other than the Enron execs)," ML's execs fu%$ed up their company to a fair thee well.  Yet, BAC apparently is fine with letting ML call all of the shots regarding the new brokerage business.  That's their perogative.  I just hope they do a better job with Merrill Lynch 2.0.   Given you have been with BAI for several years with little or no help from CMs, I would presume an "eat what you kill" model should work for you.  Other than great technology, don't expect to receive any other help building your business from ML. They expect you to rise or fall on your own.  It sounds like that works for you.  If so, good luck. 
Mar 21, 2009 6:48 pm

The ML “takeover” of BAI is a good thing.  BAI never had a say in any of the top executive decisions because there were only 2000 advisors.  And I will take a Merrill management system over the bank’s anyday.

B0nehead:  How many picky million dollar clients did the average CM service? I would say four or five at the most.  And with most CM's only bringing in a handful of first mortgages last year, how can the bank justify paying them their salaries.  It certainly wasn't for their service acumen because most CM's would transfer any service needs to the PRC.  I would say were the most overpaid salaried personnel that I have ever seen in the bank environment.  I still feel bad for the ones that I am friends with, but it's like they won the lottery for a few years and now they ran out of scratch-offs.
Mar 21, 2009 6:55 pm

One-Eyed Man: The banking center is still there to give referrals.  This may change if ML decides to stick a bunch of their brokers into the banks.  However, banking center referrals require a bit of finesse and butt-kissing that most MLers do not possess.

ML's Investment Banking under O'Neal is where the problem started.  But ML always ran a fine broker force.  BAC's ability to manage brokers has had a horrendous history. While all the other firms were increasing headcount, BAC + Quick Reilly remained at 2000 advisors for 5 years.  This includes the CM and US Trust referral enticements and transition money that was ahead of other large banks.
Mar 21, 2009 7:07 pm

BACFA, clearly you had some pretty crummy CMs. I on the other hand had some pretty outstanding ones that I am very sorry to see fired. They handled all of the banking needs for my top clients, and handled them well. They also put me in front of their best clients. The million dollar number was a random selection, the same goes for those clients with $500k or even $250k. These are good clients for BAI, that are too small for UST and will now find themselves in the abyss that is consumer bank. It will fall on me to ensure that their needs are handled to their satisfaction, because no one else will take ownership. I should have time for this right between updating CCID and filling out breakpoint worksheets. As for their salaries and mortgages, how much more do you think the MLOs get paid for doing the exact same mortgages? And what’s more, BAC has higher rates for clients that did their mortgages through CMs. It’s a loose-loose-loose situation.

Mar 21, 2009 7:10 pm

This post is getting FU#@ing juicy...  Thanks all for your point of views!  I think everyone has some good stuff they are saying.  <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The one eyed man

The only benefit I got from the bank was being in the bank.  I would build report with clients though my PB's or just seeing folks who are coming into the branch.  I can't say my CM never ever referred but let’s just say it all depended on how his comp plan paid him.  The toughest thing for me was me and my CM where good friends but his pockets always took precedence.  This model was a FU#$ing disaster and I am in agreement with BACFA.

 

I would keep your phone lines open and listen to the recruiters.  There will be other platforms to go to if the Tuesday call is bad news for BAI...............

Mar 21, 2009 7:32 pm

The model didn’t have to be a disaster and it wasn’t always so. What a**hole thought that dinging CMs 2.5X for withdrawals from savings was the best way to build this business and create partnerships? Why did FAs get a 10% haircut for business done jointly with their CM? When the model was first rolled out it was pretty good. But every subsequent change since then drove a deeper wedge between FAs and CMs. They never truly aligned our interests and thought that just talking about “partnerships” was enough. Talk is cheap and the greedy bastards at the top of the lines of businesses didn’t want to make the same self sacrificing decisions that the FAs and CMs had to make everyday in order to put their client’s interests first.

Mar 21, 2009 7:38 pm

Bonehead,



You said it perfect…the model was a great idea and could have been amazing if it wasn’t for the complicated, ever changing comp plans.   



My CM referred quite a bit of business my way over the past few years and his departure will hurt me. We sold the “partnership” model to our clients and in return he got a lot assets and loans for both him and me. I still have my branches which do refer, but how long will that last?



Whether you had a great CM or not, if you got referrals from them…it’s a loss to you going forward…



Let’s see how much BS is on the call Tuesday.

Mar 22, 2009 8:02 pm

I met w/ a MER Complex mngr & Branch mngr last week.  What they were saying was totally different than what my CM thinks they will be doing.  At least now I hear we will get paid on mortgages and cd’s.

Mar 22, 2009 9:20 pm

Malakaman, what does your CM think they will be doing? 

Mar 23, 2009 1:37 pm

Not sure why any CM’s thought they had a future. BofA is going to pay reps to handle accounts and they WILL force them to service them. PRC will remain as rep support and CM’s are gone. They will probably attach the FA comp to all kinds of widgets to make it hard to receive this comp and thus lower production due to extra work. What a model!!

Mar 24, 2009 12:06 am

He’s not sure what they will be doing.  They hear different things.  Bofa Bank managers tell them one thing, BAI says something else and MER says something totally different.  I’ll tell you this much, I wouldnt be surprised if a lot more of the better CM’s go elsewhere.  Alot of frustration and no guidance.

Mar 24, 2009 12:12 am

The remaining CMs will be glorified personal bankers that provide product support to the combined BAI/ML Advisors. I don’t they will have much if any face to face interaction with clients going forward.



Whalehunter, you are correct, FAs will be forced to sell bank products with very little if any compensation.

Mar 25, 2009 10:56 am

So how about yesterday’s conference call? I love the way that guy tried to put such a positive spin on all of this. There is no freaking way that FAs will be able to do all of this. Maybe it worked at Mother Merrill, but I keep coming back to volume. They don’t do anywhere near the volume of bank transactions that BOA does. The PRC is good for doing what you tell them to, but they will not take ownership of the issue and be proactive. It will be like any other BOA back office support team that could care less about our clients. It’s all coming down on us and we will be bogged down with bank transactions while the Merrill brokers get all of the investment clients. We are the new CMs! I don’t care how he wraps that piece of crap up, he’ll never convince me it’s a Tootsie Roll…

Mar 25, 2009 12:49 pm

So no more CM's/ Banking specialist?

Mar 25, 2009 1:23 pm

I thought the most interesting comment was that he said we need to hang onto the “deposits”.   Great, now I can see the new plan dinging us if our client moves their bank deposits out to another bank to get a higher rate.   I can’t wait to argue about why it doesn’t make sense to earn a higher rate on CDs.



Also, there is no way we are going to get enough referrals from MLOs, business bankers, or whoever else they think will refer to us to make up for the CMs. But at least they will increase our payouts and get rid of the scorecard right…