ML PMDs?
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WOW! I don’t even know what to say.
A stepping stone in life, where you step next is up to you. Best of Luck to everyone in their future endeavors.Wait till you realize the guys that runBofA don’t have a fuccin clue what any of you do.
This is a true BofA story. I ran an R&D shop out of NY in the Investment Bank. One of the new products we developed was the swapoption -- option on intrest rate swaps. So we are presenting it to the highest credit cmt of the bank for approval, and it contained the usual swap box diagrams of payment flows from counter parties, and the Chief Credit Officer asked "Why are all these people making loans to each other?"I would have asked the same question. I don’t know what the heck you are talking about. Not everyone speaks an analysts language.
I agree with akkula and others about being relieved about defending merrill lynch. It was absolutely horrible. The good thing is people that knew Merrill back in the day will understand why I moved firms. I was thinking on resigning on February 6 so my u4 says I resigned. Any thoughts?
He said that he was talking to the Chief Credit Officer. He should understand how swaps work. He should be an encyclopedia on credit/risk hedging strategies. That's like a Harvard Physicist asking a grad student "What are all of those funny greek letters in your math problem?"I would have asked the same question. I don’t know what the heck you are talking about. Not everyone speaks an analysts language.
[quote=now_indy]That’s like a Harvard Physicist asking a grad student “What are all of those funny greek letters in your math problem?”[/quote]
Well? Please don’t leave us all in suspense - what were all those funny greek letters doing in his math problem??
its amazing how much this thread has gained in attention. i think obama is familiar with the poa/pmd program. i even had a writer from the new york post contact me…
my office has let go of 4 poa's but they were definately not right for the job. we now have ten solid ones left. my office really does not give us any info at all. what is the relevance of feb. 6? i have seen this on a bunch of replies.every one of us are well on track and have deep pipelines. however from others on this post, it seems not good enough. as said before my gut says all trainees are toast.Our complex has significantly reduced the number of POA’s/PMD’s, but there are still about 10 of us left. I read these posts and I find them more paralyzing than helpful because all of the information seems like it is based on different metrics and it is all so uncertain. I’m worried about my job, even though I am hitting my hurdles.
It has been difficult to do my job over the past few weeks, I have
been afraid to continue with “business as usual” because I may be cut
soon. I will feel embarrassed to share that kind of news with
people who trust me with their investments.
However, if I am not planning to leave, and it doesn’t seem like the grass is greener anywhere else, maybe those of us left should just hold out hope that this is a natural part of any merger? We may or may not be okay. The rules seem to change everyday. Some of my greatest friends in the program were cut last week and I am deeply saddened for everyone who has lost their job. They are wonderful, hard working people who had the same hopes that I did when I entered this business.
Whether you are still at ML in the training program or looking for a new job, we all are at a point in our careers where we need to find more confidence and a little bit of optimism amidst all of this bad news. If anyone has any ideas…please pass them my way because it has been incredibly difficult to rise above all of the noise.
Financiallady,
You must have a big office to have 10 POA that survived the layoffs. I do definitely try to keep optimism in the office and with my clients, but I view this forum as an outlet for frustrations. I’m the only POA left in my office so its pretty frustrating. Its also hard to keep going business as usual when your Resident Director says the future doesn’t look good and more layoffs may come. I viewed not getting laid off on monday as an opportunity to have some time to look outside of this business. That’s a hard thing to do, but it looks like the handwriting is on the wall for trainees in this business. Either join a team or move on. I wish I had more optimism too.
Sounds like all that hedge fund paper money hoohah that brought down the economy. "Ya see, this guy is loaning that guy money based on the bet that the interest rate of this third party will be swappable with a loan based on the creditworthiness of a tranche of subprime mortgages that are guaranteed by a credit swap for the original lender's options. Please don't ask any questions because it's all too complicated to explain in further detail. Just trust us, it represents value and security. No, really. Stop laughing". There's no denying it: The only way this could have happened to the economy is if 98% of the people on Wall Street had no &^%$ing clue what any of this stuff was worth but stood around pretending like they did. No one wanted to be the first to point out that the Emperor had no clothes on, for fear that the "experts" would ridicule their unsophisticated understanding of the markets. And on that note, I will conclude by stating that the credit rating agencies should be banned from the industry for demonstrating a complete, utter and whole inability to "rate" anything - for the umpteenth time. /rant offOne of the new products we developed was the swapoption – option on intrest rate swaps. So we are presenting it to the highest credit cmt of the bank for approval, and it contained the usual swap box diagrams of payment flows from counter parties, and the Chief Credit Officer asked “Why are all these people making loans to each other?”
You have the right outlook...Dont know what the hell a Resident Director is, but my guess is if you gave him/her a few shots at a bar you would hear he is as worried as you are about being employed. Think the writing on the wall expands far beyond trainees. With payout cuts across all firms reaching up into the 300K levels that says all you need to now. I Think doing 400K+ in this business is pretty solid, and I know 1/2 dozen guys who were around 400K and none think they will crack 200-250K this year in the enviroment. For many "2" 50% pay cuts came at the same time (Market cut gross in 1/2 and then the grid got cut in 1/2). If firms pull this type of stuff believe me the trainees are the last thingthey give a damn about. It is all very tough to believe, but it is what it is..Financiallady,
You must have a big office to have 10 POA that survived the layoffs. I do definitely try to keep optimism in the office and with my clients, but I view this forum as an outlet for frustrations. I’m the only POA left in my office so its pretty frustrating. Its also hard to keep going business as usual when your Resident Director says the future doesn’t look good and more layoffs may come. I viewed not getting laid off on monday as an opportunity to have some time to look outside of this business. That’s a hard thing to do, but it looks like the handwriting is on the wall for trainees in this business. Either join a team or move on. I wish I had more optimism too.
You have the right outlook…Dont know what the hell a Resident Director is, but my guess is if you gave him/her a few shots at a bar you would hear he is as worried as you are about being employed. Think the writing on the wall expands far beyond trainees. With payout cuts across all firms reaching up into the 300K levels that says all you need to now. I Think doing 400K+ in this business is pretty solid, and I know 1/2 dozen guys who were around 400K and none think they will crack 200-250K this year in the enviroment. For many “2” 50% pay cuts came at the same time (Market cut gross in 1/2 and then the grid got cut in 1/2). If firms pull this type of stuff believe me the trainees are the last thingthey give a damn about. It is all very tough to believe, but it is what it is…[/quote]
Just a casual observation for you. At $300,000 Annual Gross production that's $25,000 gross per month. At a regional B/D, I'll use ED Jones because I'm familiar with them, that's a net of $10,000 per month, 40% payout. I would say you are doing well, better than most workers in the U.S., and the home office was happy. As an independent on say an 80% payout that's a net of $20,000 per month. I would say you are doing very well and management (you) are happy. But at a wirehouse if you're doing $300,000 Annual Gross, a $25,000 gross per month, your net if you're lucky is 35% (don't know what they've all adjusted to), you are making $8750, still not bad, but management is not happy.That is what's wrong with this industry. You can enter into an employment agreement with a wirehouse and then have them yank the rug out from under you and steal your clients when it suits their needs. This could come back to haunt them someday, as I imagine whatever loyalty and trust their FAs had to their wirehouse firm has been reduced by an even greater amount. FAs will focus on selling themselves and not the firm, and the brands will suffer. Moreover, do you know how many FAs are now walking the streets, calling their clients and pissing all over Merrill's name? And with the economy such as it is, and Merrill's corporate frailty, the brand can ill afford the additional badwill.the grid got cut in 1/2
Hate to break it to you guys but Merrill like my name implies is a sinking ship. They, meaning BofA, are cutting the bottom 25-30% and the top 25-30% are running into the arms of UBS and MS and other firms. The Thundering Herd is thundering out of the damn building. Other firms are laughing at the few that are staying. Merrill offices across the country are being decimated by layoffs and top producers walking. A year or so from now they should be about 10% maybe 15% of the current assets under management. If you are there still I have one word for you that will the single most important career move. LEAVE, or RUN, or GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE. Ok the last one wasnt one word but you get the picture. BofA did such a wonderful and brilliant job of wealth management pre-Merrill, NOT, they are going to do just a little bit better. You are on a sinking ship and it is time for you to do what I have done and leave. You still have time to get on with one of the NEW top 5, if you wait for everybody else to go you wont get as good deal. I jumped off and havent regretted it, i was actually relieved. Prospects were increasingly hesitant to do business with me in the last couple of weeks, mainly b/c they had been watching the news. BofA is running this into the ground. I have a friend still there pretty high up but about to finalize his departure. If you are in the Virginia, NC, SC, Georgia, FL area and you are a small office you are about to be cut. He is leaving mainly b/c he is sick of laying off peope that dont deserve it. He told me that within those five states they are going to cut about 30% of the total workforce by Feb. 14. Happy Valentines Day!!! If i were you I would make plans now. Dont say you werent warned or didnt see this coming. BofA could give a you know what about loyalty.
Update-
Still in survival mode as a POA. On track. Worried about future cuts.
And new accounts are flying in the door-NOT.
B of A is front page again after Super Bowl parties. I hate to pile on, but today was ANOTHER day spent deflecting our reputation as a bunch of losers in need of a bailout.
A senior broker offered an Investment Advisor position in case I miss hurdles. That seems like a demotion, and it brings into question what to do if I get the pink slip. I still lean toward leaving and heading to a smaller firm, but I am pissed off about having to effectively start over.
Any thoughts on Investment Advisor as a career path?
Consider IA very cautiously, and be sure you go in with both eyes wide open. Whatever book you now have will NOT be useful to you in subsidizing your IA position with the bigger producer. Any POA switching to the IA channel must surrender their entire book to a branch-wide lottery.
Even if the guy hiring you as an IA is big, the majority of your book will end up in the hands of others within the branch. So the hiring producer has to be willing/able to pay all your salary and benefits out of his own production.
Unless his PCs are north of 1MM, it will certainly be a step backward for you. You’ll be forced to live on store-brand Mac and Cheese, instead of Kraft!
[quote=Jahlive]Update-
Still in survival mode as a POA. On track. Worried about future cuts.
And new accounts are flying in the door-NOT.
B of A is front page again after Super Bowl parties. I hate to pile on, but today was ANOTHER day spent deflecting our reputation as a bunch of losers in need of a bailout.
A senior broker offered an Investment Advisor position in case I miss hurdles. That seems like a demotion, and it brings into question what to do if I get the pink slip. I still lean toward leaving and heading to a smaller firm, but I am pissed off about having to effectively start over.
Any thoughts on Investment Advisor as a career path?[/quote]
If the guy is trying to hire additional staff at Merrill right now(instead of looking for a good exit strategy) he’s clearly gambling that he will do well on inherited accounts from the flood of those that are laid off or leave to go to UBS or the RIA route. There’s no other logical reason to do so.
I’m not convinced going anywhere else is all it’s cracked up to be. I’ve picked up some nice accounts that got distributed, people like talking to me, and while my company may be on the front page everyday, I’m all about talking points when it comes to prospecting. Rather than tell someone why their “assets are safe,” I go right into office renovation. It’s a great ice-breaker and gets people talking. I’m just a few months out of POA (how’s that for timing?) and I’ve been able to turn all the news into positive conversations generating decent leads and a couple of clients. Even advisors at “better” companies aren’t calling their clients after the recent bloodbath - I’m more than happy to fill in for them regardless of the sign hanging over my door.
Any press is good press, I’m starting to believe, it’s all a matter of how you spin it. Prospecting has always been hard and for a couple of weeks I bought into the crap that it was impossible to do at ML. Now I’m just changing my game to adjust to the playing field and it’s paying off.
Who knows, I could be shown the door tomorrow, but all I know is that I control my actions - how I prospect, what I think about my company, this industry, the actions of the top brass etc… I can’t control what management wants to do with me, but I ain’t gonna lose sleep over worrying about something out of my hands.
Damn, I sound like Zig Ziglar…
Hey you seem like a great guy pooching others clients because you cant get your own. It got to a point where I didn’t believe the bullshit coming out of my mouth. I couldnt imagine being there now and having to explain how Scam of America just spent millions on a Super Bowl party. I talked to a current BofA client last night and there blood is boiling cant wait to switch over to the new firm. I am amazed how many people I have talked to since i left that say “man it is a good thing you got out of there!”. If you are content on staying until you get layed off. BofA is doing something smart, instead of laying off 50,000 people at once they are laying off 1,000 people every 7-10 days. And another 1,000 are running into the arms of other firms. Once they finish up with the POA’s they will get to the CA’s. Its a matter of time before me and the others from our old office hear from the rest that are about to get shitcanned. What a relief it was now on to stable ground. I can actually talk to prospects about products and their financial outlook instead of why the dumbest f&$%'s in the world are running my company.