Bac / Merrill leads?
10 RepliesJump to last post
Are you Merrill guys seeing anything coming from Bank of America in the way of leads? Are you able to look at BOA accounts for opportunities within?
I am looking at WF ISG, and also Merrill. Funny thing is the Merrill manager is trying to sell me on the bank lead generation, which is not what i was expecting. I dont mind hunting for business, but if the bank if going to tee some stuff up that is icing on the cake. Thanks![quote=spoiled996]Are you Merrill guys seeing anything coming from Bank of America in the way of leads? Are you able to look at BOA accounts for opportunities within?
I am looking at WF ISG, and also Merrill. Funny thing is the Merrill manager is trying to sell me on the bank lead generation, which is not what i was expecting. I dont mind hunting for business, but if the bank if going to tee some stuff up that is icing on the cake. Thanks![/quote] Yeah, you're special. Nevermind that there are 10k plus advisors in front of you with more seniority wanting those same leads. And I bet they will throw in a new BMW if you gross a $500k!Already got the BMW, but the payout would be nice on either side. I gross over $500k now at a smaller regional. I understand that there are advisors wanting the same leads…who wouldn’t want things to be easier. Just trying to find out if Merrill is actually getting clients from the bank side. I already know WF does, but in my mind, Merrill is a higher level firm then WF. I know i will have to fall into ranks at a new firm. Just want to get some added insight from people in the trenches instead of just the managers making their firms out to be the best out there. Another advantage Merrill is offering me is to move my SA, which is an added plus.
The lead program is a joke. Ken Lewis bragged about Premier Banking offering leads to Advisors in January, the same day over 1000 of them were let go. Another example of him being clueless. There is one Premier Banker for every 30 Advisors and the Banker doesn’t know their clients. This is the same BS that BofA has been touting for years and it doesn’t happen. The Managers touting the leads are either desperate are as clueless as Ken. Another example of misrepresentation.
Yeah, and wouldn’t those advisors that were initially on the bank platform have access to those leads first? ML reps are about to find out what deception really means. So are their recruits.
Go to Wells ISG. Just had friends move there and they are really working it. They moved almost all of their book. The payout is not great, but the leads there are like they should be. BofA made every banker give up their clients so that’s why people got the initial leads, but how is the new Wealth Management banker going to bring warm leads if they have no clients? They are going to start mining the advisor’s book, and that’s exactly what is happening. Besides, you can go independent without repapering accounts at Wells.
I’m in my 6th year at Merrill. We have started getting leads in this referral program. It’s still in the pilot stage and 1,100 leads have been given out in NJ. I have received one and nothing came of it but I am happy to spend two minutes making a call to a potential client. There are hundreds of thousands of names that are supposed to be disseminated over the next year or two but I think they are still getting the bugs out of the process. I am not counting on these leads to grow my business (I do other things), but I figure they can’t hurt. I hope this helps.
The leads are being distributed via a ranking system similar to our account redistribution criteria. The criteria is fair and havn’t heard any one complain about that just work harder to move up the ranks. There is also a commerical lead system in place no one is really aware of at this time, but these are large referals. FA’s are landing accounts with the new system, we have had sevearl success stories in our complex.
WF is chaos, don't go there. I heard directly from a group of wachovia FA's they cannot open an account for less than $1mm. I can't confirm this but like I said it came from Wachovia FA's which at this time are very unhappy. Life is same as it used to be at ML, fantastic. The aquasition has only helped FA's. Can't say the same for the rest of the firm but in times like these its every person for themselves! Wouldn't you agree? If your moving from RJA, get the heck out of there! Its a brokerage firm on training wheels.........[quote=kappa1997]
Isn’t an “aquasition” the same as an “acquisition” only the deal is consumated in water?
Typical ML manager, can’t spell.
FYI WF only gives leads, if you want to call them that, to the bank broker at that branch. They DO NOT forward anything to the regular brokers outside the bank.Already got the BMW, but the payout would be nice on either side. I gross over $500k now at a smaller regional. I understand that there are advisors wanting the same leads…who wouldn’t want things to be easier. Just trying to find out if Merrill is actually getting clients from the bank side. I already know WF does, but in my mind, Merrill is a higher level firm then WF. I know i will have to fall into ranks at a new firm. Just want to get some added insight from people in the trenches instead of just the managers making their firms out to be the best out there. Another advantage Merrill is offering me is to move my SA, which is an added plus.