Ex Legg Brokers get shafted again
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It was brought up in our office meeting today that Smithbarney was considering a change in the firm's payout. Our branch manager said there is a good possibility that the first 5k in production will be paid out at 20% each month with the remainder paid at grid. Also, registered sales assistants would get a firm wide standard % of their broker's gross each month. Broker's, however, would not be financially responsible for their errors. The manager said that this is not official but it is what the regional manager told him. The reason for this change is due to the lawsuits involving overtime pay and broker's having to pay for sales ass and errors.
If you look at it from the former Legg Mason broker's point of view, It is a 24K per year pay cut. We lost about 12K in profit sharing and 401k match with the merger and now 60k in production each year could be paid out at 20% losing another 12k in pay.
Sucks to be you. I get 90% of the first dollar, the last dollar, and all the dollars in-between. Unless it’s a private placement or insurance…then I get 100%.
SB isnt being gracious about making you not responsible for errors anymore. Legally, it looks like they will have no choice.
I agree. SB is facing an ugly reality to which the court system is dragging them kicking and screaming.
Courtside, I know this sounds like "woulda, coulda, shoulda" but I thought this might interest you and your colleagues:
http://www.forbes.com/2006/01/24/legg-mason-citi-brokers-cz_ ds_0125legg_print.html
The bottom line is/was, a year ago was the right time to jump ship. I hope for your sake/their sake you were able to sell your shares of Legg Mason (LM:NYSE) common at or near market top.
Mr. O'Reilly and his senior partner are still very happy at Bear Stearns (BSC:NYSE) and this is "part" of the reason why:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?=1y&s=BSC&l=on&z=m &q=l&c=lm
FD: this is NOT a solicitation to jump ship from Smith Blarney to the mighty Bear Stearns.
I am NOT a Bear Stearns' employee or inside/outside recruiter.
I and my colleagues have traded both securities in the past year and may currently have open positions in them.
Courtside, I don't know what your current situation is. I assume you're under contract and have a non compete agreement since you elected to stay on instead of jump ship. I know quite a few former Legg brokers who left in the past 12 months. One's with Dain Rauscher in Long Island. They're not quite as selective as Bear with respect to AUM minimums. I know a few who bailed for UBS and Wachovia, too (ditto on the AUM minimums).
If you have interest, I can put you in touch with former Legg brokers who bailed for greener pastures since it sounds like you're considering doing the same now if you can.
Sorry to hear about your screwing But what do expect from a wire house?
How long will it take reps to figure out that wire house could give a crap about you or the clients?