Mwd brokers

Sorry buddy, knew about it weeks before from this website. No new news. There will be a massive reorgnaiztion in management. The likes you have not seen. They will cut the region from 8 to fewer. (less brokers, consolidation of offices, following Merrill (Gorman) There will be further lay offs across the board from operations to sales assistance and of course brokers. This in not Kansas anymore.

 I am MS broker and going to be sitting for S9 and S10.  I think i will just get the licenses, but not take any positions until next year

[quote=Elvis]Sorry buddy, knew about it weeks before from this website. No new news. There will be a massive reorgnaiztion in management. The likes you have not seen. They will cut the region from 8 to fewer. (less brokers, consolidation of offices, following Merrill (Gorman) There will be further lay offs across the board from operations to sales assistance and of course brokers. This in not Kansas anymore.[/quote]

There won't be any more broker cuts until Gorman takes over. People are just dreaming.

I agree.  Cuts will happen then, no need for it to happen before then.

You might to find another more humaine firm.

[quote=NY_BROKER]You might to find another more humaine firm.[/quote]

"Humaine???"  And they let you manage other people's life savings???  I don't want to hear how you're not the greatest speller either... If you can't spell a simple word like "humane", how in the world are you detail oriented enough to manage large sums of money...

For the love of God...  Go back and retake 1st thru 5th grade!!! 

[quote=NY_BROKER]You might to find another more humaine firm.[/quote]

"You might to find...",  Who the hell are you, Bizarro Superman???

"It am Friday, me am happy!"  Go get em', Captain Caveman!!!

That’s the last post I will do from my cell phone  at a red light in NYC.

[quote=NY_BROKER]You might to find another more humaine firm.[/quote]

There is no such thing. Every company, if faced with slumping profits, will make cuts needed to regain profitability. If you're looking for some organization that's humane, it won't be one with shareholders or looking to make a profit. That's not an attack on corporations, it's just a fact. It's like looking for a humane pittbull.

Regarding additional layoffs, what will the cutoffs be for rookie brokers 1-4 years?

Under 250k trailing 12 and you are shown the door

have you heard this from higher ups frumhere? or are you estimating what you think would be reasonable?

Had someone call me today from there to talk about Jones. The above number would be justified by what they told me. She was at a little over 2yrs and gross was somewhere around 175k. Being shown the door. 

so this is part of the new round of layoffs?

separate from the 1,000 of two weeks ago -- August 11?

Are these guys being given time to find a new home?

I don’t know about anyone else here, but I would have been feeling pretty good about myself if I had hit 175K in year 2.  I guess things have changed over the years.

Starka, I agree…if the 175k @ 2 yrs being let go is true, then “wow.”  However, I bet there’s more to that story.  From what I understand, MS is recruiting people from other places with less impressive numbers.

I agree.  Other recruiters in our firm have presented FAs to MWD within the past couple of months, as recently as last week that are averaging $50k/year in production along with $5M/year in assets (pretty much the wirehouse norm).  There has to be more to that story.

wait, that is bizarre. What could possibly be the rationale behind that? Are they recruiting them with lower payout numbers maybe? and certain conditions, as far as how much they raise production over time?

Broker-editor--"$50k/yr in production" means for x years in the biz, recruit should have annual production of 50,000x....if you meant it's bizarre to recruit someone only producing 50k (which it is).  For ex, someone with 4 yrs in biz is in good shape w/200k, 6 years 300k, etc.

So would there be a top out?       20 years = 1ml  or gone! 

I think people would get fed up, always having to produce more! 

Nah…seems that once you get to 400k they leave you alone just about anywhere.  The prior page asked about years 1-4…that 50k/year is a rule of thumb until you get fully “up to speed.”  If the average at ML/SB is around 700k and there are plenty of 1m producers there…ya gotta have a 400k for each 1m to avg 700k.  At some places (EJ for ex) 400k makes you a king, at others it makes you a well-paid “underachiever.”  Kinda like being the stud 3-sport athlete in a small town vs trying to hang on to one sport at State U.

Thanks Cowboy. gotcha. That makes sense to me now.

Absolutely agree, Cowboy.  Once you hit the $400k mark, you are safe.  If you had to average $50k for each year you were in the biz, you’d see a ton of unemployed FAs.

BR, don’t you feel that 50k a year at least top year 10-12 is reasonable to expect? What is the vaerage for LOS of 10yrs? Please tell me it as least 500k

I know the ? wasn't directed to me, but what the heck...I enjoy prob and stats...

I'd bet the AVERAGE for LOS 10-12 is easily 500k, but the MEDIAN?  Maybe...but probably heavily depends on if you just include the biggest 6-8 firms or if you toss in indys, banks/cred unions, et al.  But the statisical diff between median and avg. may be large if you've got some $2m producer(s) in the mix....they skew the average quite a bit, but not the median as much; example:  population of 5 LOS 10 brokers:  2 mil, 500k, 450k, 400k, 350k...median is 450k but mean is 720k.  A little trick called survivorship bias pushes the median up..and also suckers people into chasing the pot of gold each year!

ps the media headlines seem to reflect whatever looks the worst between median and mean/avg on any subject; and recruiters talk about the best!

I would agree.  It all depends.  If you are talking wirehouse, I have found it to be $400-500k at that LOS.  You also have to take into consideration the geographic location, median and mean income of the area, etc. 

A broker in Dallas with LOS 10 with Merrill will probably look different than a broker LOS 10 with Merrill in Omaha. 

Different firms have different tools for their brokers, as well, and that can skew it, too.  That's why we see wo much movement - there isn't the "golden firm" for everyone.  Some need technology to help them with their job, some need research, etc.

[quote=Starka]I don’t know about anyone else here, but I would have
been feeling pretty good about myself if I had hit 175K in year
2.  I guess things have changed over the years.[/quote]



Me too.  That is a good number.  Most small businesses
probably don’t even come close to that revenue number after 2 years.



If round 2 of the head chopping is about to begin at MS, anyone would
be foolish to not look around or call a recruiter if they think they
are anywhere near the cutoff.



Imagine spending two years of your life working your ass off only to have it all taken away from you.



I’d get a list of clients and start looking around before its too late if I were them.

Hey BrokerRecruit, have you worked with any of the recently displaced
MS reps?  And if so, have you found any interest for them? 
I’d have to think the regionals would want them.  They aren’t
lepers.

250k minimum for rookies at mwd is ludicrous.  this would wipe out 99% of their PFP training program.  the number of reps with < 4 years of experience is currently under 1000.  that number is already diluted because of the number of failed trainees, therefore the survivorship bias is evident in the current class.  only those reps that joined teams would remain.  merrill and smith barney heavily recruit reps with 2-4 years and over 100k.  firing all their rookie brokers will leave them at a significant disadvantage relative to peers.     

I've worked with a few.  I have been pretty selective and have set some criteria that they must match in order for me to take them somewhere.

We have a quasi-independent BD that is associated with one of the largest independents on the street that has been looking at them and we're hoping to pull the trigger on three of these brokers in the next week.

I've shied away from some simply because I need to make sure I am showing my clients value and don't want to fill seats with warm bodies.  The ones I'm working with had some issues that came up recently that caused a dip in production.  They were on that fine line and were just short of the targets by a bit.

Anyone know approx how many MSDW brokers were laid off in Southern Cal & what areas were most affected?

in the greater san diego area i heard about 15 brokers were booted…

Let me tell you a little about the production numbers at any firm.

They say the average is 460k @mwd and the Merrill average is 700k.

I do not doubt they do more but not that much more. I was recruited by them and this is how it works.

If you are doing 500k, they tell you "you suck" and  "ask"you hire a fully paid assistant @40k a year. This assistant could be a broker that is not making it or marketing assistant. In a few years you do 200k(gross) more but really only make about 30k net .To pay the 40k assistant it cost you 120k gross. This is OK until the market goes south and you  still have the fixed expenses.