Wachovia Securities, the brokerage arm of Wachovia, is going to start offering its advisors bonuses tied to client satisfaction. According to published reports, the new program will award reps up to $25,000 in Wachovia stock, vesting over five years, based on a combination of factors that include: increases in client assets, results of client satisfaction surveys and use of Envision, a new tool the firm is pushing among reps to help them dig deeper into client profiles and relationships.
A spokesman for Wachovia said only that the firm is “finalizing the program and expects to communicate the details to our financial advisors in early February.” He added that it will be “a very different approach to FA bonus/comp than anything else in the industry today.”
One veteran Wachovia producer, who says he heard about the program but hasn't seen any specifics yet, explains that Envision is meant to help reps “uncover hidden assets” their clients may be holding outside of Wachovia. “They want us to use it for three reasons: one, to become more familiar with the lifestyles and assets of clients; two, if there's a legal problem, we have more info on clients; and three, learning about what else they've got in a full interview often leads to more business,” he says.