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What does the grid look like?

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Nov 30, 2008 7:16 pm

I am curious to hear what the grids are at Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley and UBS. I am at ML and was wondering if it was a really big difference in payouts between the firms. I seem to remember the compensation issue of Registered Rep magazine but I want to hear it from you guys. Also, at ML we get the business development account when we hit club but I have not heard about it at the other firms. Any insight?

Nov 30, 2008 11:27 pm

I don’t have the link, but go to On Wall Street. They have a very good comparison. But three things: first, most major firms were just bought, sold, merged, or had leadership changes, so don’t count on the current or recent pay structures as gospel. Second, to be honest, most of the majors (wires and regionals such as Jones), end up with fairly similar payouts. There are differences in HOW they pay you (bonus, commission%, grid, office profit sharing, deferred comp, etc.), and also you may make out better at some firms versus others at certain gross production levels. Third, the commission/payout/grid structures are based on assumptions about your mix of business. Most wires have higher incentives for annuitized business. Some don’t differentiate. And if your product mix is more fixed income, stocks, CD’s, your payout may look very different.

Dec 1, 2008 3:14 am

Thank you B24. I remembered seeing the scorecard but I could not remember where I saw it. 

Dec 1, 2008 8:07 pm

This grid comparison found at OnWallStreet.com is pretty good. It does blend Indys in with wirehouse and other models, but you can get a pretty good idea of how firms comp various revenue sources compared to others. 

http://www.onwallstreet.com/global/bd-scorecard.html?djoPage=summary&djoPid=5039

Dec 2, 2008 12:41 am

UBS is different now (starting 09) they are raising payout to almost all advisors by about 8-15%. heavier on the 700k+ fa’s.



The biggest benefits is for teams, the junior members get the senior members payout level and def comp level.



They did away with retention on managed accounts and now pay on cash balances .04bps.



the negative was non managed households under 50K are 0% payout and they kept the 12 ticket charge on equity trades.



Merrill is changing in a week or so as well.

Dec 2, 2008 3:48 am

Financial Planning also has a scorecard. http://www.financial-planning.com/global/bd-scorecard.html?djoPage=summary. <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

No EDJ........probably because they don't belong to the FP community. It gives the option to compare firms, payouts, # of advisors, mins, etc. It is another option to look at.

Dec 2, 2008 1:55 pm

[quote=llcoolj]

Financial Planning also has a scorecard. http://www.financial-planning.com/global/bd-scorecard.html?djoPage=summary. <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

No EDJ........probably because they don't belong to the FP community. It gives the option to compare firms, payouts, # of advisors, mins, etc. It is another option to look at.

[/quote]   No, EDJ is not there because this was only a survey of independant BD's.   That's why you also don't see ML,UBS, MS, SB, WS/WF