no

Ferris can you spill the beans and tell us what the retention package is.

LOL… I missed it.

No steak knives, I am afraid.

10% retention 500-750k…nothing under 500k

I hear nothing but bad news is coming on the retention front for ML.  Everyone seems to be poised to bail, but I rather doubt most will have the gumption to do it given the challenges of the business right now.   Suppose to be announced this Friday perhaps? Can anyone confirm? 

Seems to me that they’ve be leading you Merrill guys along for about 5 weeks now? From a managing standpoint… maybe they’re trying to force your expectations down?

Looks like it might be time to perform some due diligence.

Does seem like expectations should be tempered.

Yes indeed. It’d be naive to think deals will continue at their peak especially if a wave of movement occurs out of both Wachovia and ML here in Q4.  Guys who are not at least looking at the menu are going to wish they had in my opinion. Will these be a recruiter’s paradise or will firms end run you guys?  

Well, from a recruiting stand point… I could not be happier with the influx of fresh candidates. However, right now were are seeing a sort of paralyzing effect in the industry. Brokers are afraid to move or are waiting for retention packages. A few of our current candidates have actually been told to wait a few weeks before they try to move their book. Other candidates have found that moving a book couldn’t be easier. We find that clients are loyal to their brokers, not the firm.

Something interesting to note would be the amount of brokers who are deciding to go the indie route. And it looks like that could be the current trend moving forward. Especially when rumors that Wachovia and Merrill Lynch may actually cut their compensation plans down the road.