BofA rookies laid off

Are they the equivalent of a financial specialist that works at a wachovia/wells fargo branch?

They were full time, fully licensed financial advisors.

They had brokers that took referrals from branch managers for $5mm+ clients (supposedly). I had a friend that was about to jump ship to go to them about 6 months ago because they were going to pay him a salary. I’ll bet he saw his life flash before his eyes.

Not a shock since they cleaned out nearly 1,000 POA/PMDs recently.  They will continue to work their way up the ladder of seniority and productivity.  At least that is my guess.

I interviewed w/then back in August of 08.  Thank goodness I didn’t take that one-it seemed to be too confusing.  The local market director was trying to sell me on the referrals, several branches, etc, and the payout wasn’t all that good-I think a flat 30% or so.  

I think SB is about to do the same, probably June before the merger. Anyone know where I can jump ship to in Miami, FL? Worst case scenario I’d be cool to be an Assistant on a team, or independent group to start in the biz again once the dust settles.

any idea how many were laid off?..have any correspondance? I am helping place large numbers of rookies less than 2 years into a few top firms.

are the layoffs from the “pathways” program?

do you have an estimate of how many were laid off?

do you know how many? I need an estimate number for an article

[quote=FormerMD]do you know how many? I need an estimate number for an article
[/quote]

parasite

There were about 125 of us and yes it was from the Pathways program.

Word is that ML hopes to begin hiring new FAs into its PMD program in the 3rd or 4th quarter.  This directly from Lyle Lamothe.

After everything that has happened within the firm why would anybody be interested in joining Grandmother Merrill? Many firms will be opening their doors to new trainees later this year but this past 6 months has damaged the industry (Mainly wirehouses) in the long term.

Is it Wirehouses or Wirehomes? Just food for thought…

Does anybody know how this affects you on your U4?  I think I’m on the block now that my firm has announced another round of cuts coming.

When you leave a firm, you are usually mailed a copy of your U5 (notification of termination of firm registration) within a few weeks. You’ll see whatever they’ve written then. No real option other than arbitration if something negative is stated. I know several people who had the same situation and the firm answered all “no” all the way down the form, which is what you want. There’s just not a big incentive for a firm to do otherwise unless it’s a specific situation.

When you leave a firm, you are usually mailed a copy of your U5 (notification of termination of firm registration) within a few weeks. You’ll see whatever they’ve written then. No real option other than arbitration if something negative is stated. I know several people who had the same situation and the firm answered all “no” all the way down the form, which is what you want. There’s just not a big incentive for a firm to do otherwise unless it’s a specific situation.

The POA’s that were laid off from Merrill didn’t have any real negative affect on their U4. It was described as cost reduction or something like that, not job performance even though a lot of them were not meeting hurdles. Not sure if BAI will do the same but if its another layoff situation I would think it would be.

did the people who were getting salary get any form of severance? or just let go, laid off.

I wouldn’t call it a severance package but the Merrill POA’s that were let go got two weeks pay and health benefits through the end of the month.

At Merrill, I was paid to the end of the month, approximately 2 weeks.  Insurance was covered until the end of the month.  Nothing past that.

Mixed signals seem to be present around the hiring / firing of new trainees at ML.  What’s the latest, or does it just depend on area of the country?

Per a meeting on Monday in my complex, our director says that there will be hiring for PDP in the “near future” but on a reduced scale with approximately 600 new hires to start nationally which we represented as an average of one new hire per office.  He viewed it as an opportunity to be “highly selective.”

Not a shock since they cleaned out nearly 1,000 POA/PMDs recently. They will continue to work their way up the ladder of seniority and productivity. At least that is my guess.