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Wells Fargo Sales Assistants Cut Back

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May 14, 2009 10:24 pm

Looks like Wells Fargo & coach driver DL are cutting back sales assistants as of today. Several laid off today heard more soon !! Another masterful destruction by DL & team.

May 14, 2009 10:38 pm

Normal when the market is down you cut back on CA’s. Most legacy AGE offices were overstaffed to begin with. Merill, Morgan, Smith Barney and even to regionals are cutting staff. When the market turns they will add back. 

May 15, 2009 12:46 am

are ISG SA’s being cut?

May 15, 2009 12:59 am

yes several in our isg channel today.

May 15, 2009 2:20 am

Damn. Why do I get this feeling that lots of bad changes are coming. Any of you ISG fa’s have the Wells Trust people showing up at the branches yet? Definitely seems like they are trying to end run the FA for biz. Talking to everyone but the fa about what they do is a def clue. 

May 15, 2009 2:23 am

The cuts also creeped over into the regional realignment.  Some of the legacy wach reg mgr's got bumped down to complex mgr's and a couple regionals were not even replaced. Their states were given to others in the area like Michigan being put back in the Great Lakes region.  How is it that Michigan was not in the Great Lakes region? Is it not the great lake state? Does anyone know if this all occurred at the hand of Wells Fargo or was it at Dannys discretion?  Low producing advisors will be the flavor next month.

May 15, 2009 3:01 am

don’t sweat the trust and wealth teams making a bigger presence, it’s their new mandate.

  i'm an isg fa that is fortunate enough to be on the front lines of the transition. i've done joint calls with with wealth & trust to high end estate planning firms as part of the developing wealth-trust-brokerage process. i see significant referral opportunity from these endeavors.   wealth is seeking the 2mm+ households.  i've already suggested the 2mm is well within the capabilities of most fa's tand 5mm is probably where the wealth resources add most value.(that said, there are a lot of moron fa's that shouldn't work with anyone over 2mm)   wealth is being mandated to refer out all relationships under 2mm. real biz will heading to the fa's that collaborate with wealth from this distribution by year's end. wealth also doesn't offer annuities and similar strategies that may be suitable for hnw households. again more opportunity.   you own your client relationships, so they won't be prospecting your book. they actually need us more than we need them.  have you ever seen wealth and trust try to close???-absolutely pathetic!  they don't know how to prospect, so the smart fa's should be in the driver seats (the moron fa's can con't selling fixed annuities)   many fa's will b!tch because of change. in reality, how many 5mm household do you have?...now you have the tools to pursue them.   this ain't kool aide, it's the deal. if they pull the wool over our eyes, i'll be the first to blast it to the masses...i just don't see it.  wells is going to deliver far more that dl ever did.  
May 15, 2009 3:02 am

edit for grammer...

May 15, 2009 1:29 pm

New initiative also shows you the stratification of asset management at Wells/Wach.  FA may come to be viewed as lower tier compared to Trust and WM.  Poach the High End clients, leave the scraps for the FA side.  Just an observation.

May 15, 2009 11:01 pm

go_huskies…interesting.  Are you stating that Wealth will be referring out “existing” relationships under 2mil or is this just new biz going forward. How are the Wealth guys comp’d? Are they on salary/bonus or do they get commissions? I havent come across and Wealth people yet. As I said, Ive met the Trust guy, but no one from Wealth. How will Wealth determine how they refer biz? Will it be geographical without consideration to biz referred by FA to wealth or will it strictly be going to the FA’s that refer the most to Wealth? I ask this because if its judged by referrals from FA, then obviously the biggest FAs will be able to monopolize these partnerships right off the bat. Thanks

May 15, 2009 11:59 pm

Do you folks think someone with 10M is more likely to seek out an Ultra HNW shop or divide the 10M across several FAs?  Thoughts?

May 16, 2009 11:15 am

Wells Fargo offering 100 free stock trades.  Doesn’t that undermine the FA at WF Advisors?

  https://www.wellsfargo.com/investing/styles/wt/
May 16, 2009 10:07 pm

[quote=Buckeye]Wells Fargo offering 100 free stock trades.  Doesn’t that undermine the FA at WF Advisors?

  https://www.wellsfargo.com/investing/styles/wt/[/quote]

Ouch!
May 18, 2009 2:57 am

[quote=nestegg] [quote=Buckeye]Wells Fargo offering 100 free stock trades.  Doesn’t that undermine the FA at WF Advisors?

  https://www.wellsfargo.com/investing/styles/wt/[/quote]

Ouch!
[/quote]   ws has a discount desk where do-it-yourselfers can trade for $30 per trade. it never really impacted my biz, and neither will this deal.  
May 18, 2009 3:50 am

[quote=go_huskies][quote=nestegg] [quote=Buckeye]Wells Fargo offering 100 free stock trades.  Doesn’t that undermine the FA at WF Advisors?

  https://www.wellsfargo.com/investing/styles/wt/[/quote]

Ouch!
[/quote]   ws has a discount desk where do-it-yourselfers can trade for $30 per trade. it never really impacted my biz, and neither will this deal.  [/quote]

I am sure, just sucks to compete with your own firm on yet another front.

On the topic of SA's this shouldn't be a surprise given the market conditions, and teh fact alot of legacy AGE offices have 25-50% less brokers in them now compared to a year or 6 months ago.

In other news we are hiring SA's
May 18, 2009 3:50 am
3rd ID:

go_huskies…interesting.  Are you stating that Wealth will be referring out “existing” relationships under 2mil or is this just new biz going forward. How are the Wealth guys comp’d? Are they on salary/bonus or do they get commissions? I havent come across and Wealth people yet. As I said, Ive met the Trust guy, but no one from Wealth. How will Wealth determine how they refer biz? Will it be geographical without consideration to biz referred by FA to wealth or will it strictly be going to the FA’s that refer the most to Wealth? I ask this because if its judged by referrals from FA, then obviously the biggest FAs will be able to monopolize these partnerships right off the bat. Thanks

  it's a work in progress, which is why details have yet to hit infomax.  here's what i'm hearing thus far...   wealth won't be in a hurry to move the assets, but the transition should begin by year's end.  they will be selective - only those playing ball will be considered as they certainly aren't interested in feeding non-participating fas.  if you're not referring biz to wealth, don't expect to receive biz from them.    the most important part is that the referring fa will maintain the role as relationship manager with the client.  the process is almost like adding wealth as an option to dma, compass, etc.  (but it's not the same).  wealth only does fee-based biz, and the referring fa shares in wealth-generated revenue (about 40bps to the grid for the 5mm household).  fa may hold assets such as bond ladders and annuities within the same relationship.   the fa can also surrender the relationship for a 1-time lump sum payout.  this makes the most sense for clients with which the fa is not particularly dialed in.   the fa would receive about  125bps.  not a bad payout, but a 1-timer.   there are various roles in wealth, but they generally get paid salary plus bonus.  same with trust.  they both tend to over-value their platforms as an fa could address just about everything they do.  this is going to make the process of ramping up the arrangement a challenge.  i imagine the structure will change a bit before final implementation, so don't rewrite your biz plan with this post!   wealth make sense for the high end client that expects almost daily contact. complicated cases with assets in different countries, family limited partnerships, special needs trusts, etc., could likely be best served by wealth and allow the fa to run his own book.   i think the collaborative effort could open doors to biz that i've never thought i could pursue - that's why i'm involved.  half of something is better that all of nothing.  a few new $5mm relationships from this arrangement would be most welcome.   one last thing, don't let wealth get too comfy. if your fs refers the biz, you could be out. set expectations with both your branch and wealth that the process goes through you.  they're as confused as everyone else, be straight with them now and it could work out well.  
May 18, 2009 3:54 am

fee structure clarity.  assume average of 70bps billed for a 5mm household.  fa gets 60% of the fees, hence about 40bps to the grid.

May 19, 2009 1:44 am
iceco1d:

Isn’t that “70 bps to the grid,” payout @ 60%?

  no.  wealth bills about 70bps to the client.  rev share results in fa getting 60% of the fee to his grid (42bps).   wealth manages the assets while fa manages the relationship.    
May 19, 2009 3:32 pm

my firm provided SA got the ‘displacement’ notice this week. Her last day is 2 days before I go out of the country for 2 weeks. My BFSA (my wife) is going with me… This is a mess

  I expect non of you to call and solicit my clients while im gone
May 20, 2009 12:27 am

Chazzy…what region are you in?  How many years did she have with you and were the only FA she worked for?  I am registered SA and am getting a little nervous since the “newest” merger.