I think America sheds a tear for these folks as well. I'm willing to bet that every last person who was just kicked aside and sent to the unemployment line feels their pain. Just because Merrill Lynch and the rest of Wall Street made a killing selling garbage and everything has now crumbled and sent the world into recession doesn't matter. We're all pretty broken up about those retention plans and wish there was something - anything - that we could do to help. Stand firm brave Merrill Lynch sales people and just say "no" to that lousy retention offer. We're with you!
How do some Merrill Lynch financial advisors feel about the retention packages being offered by Bank of America? "Insulted."Everyone is hiring! Go ahead and quit!
That's the claim from a recruiting firm heavily courting those advisors. Darin Manis, CEO of RJ & Makay, told me he's heard from "dozens" of Merrill FA's over the weekend who are so unhappy they may leave, something Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis has wanted to avoid.
The problem isn't with high-flying producers bringing in at least $1.75 million in annual revenues. Those employees will most likely get 100 percent of their annual revenue as a retention bonus, spread out over seven years. The bad feelings are among those making less. A financial advisor producing $700,000 in revenues is being offered $175,000 in cash over seven years and a 25% growth bonus over three years. Manis says that same producer could get a lot more defecting to a competitor—"around $850,000 in cash on about a 9 year deal plus another $700,000 or so back end bonuses (after one to two years)."
Well, whether to stay or go would seemingly be a no-brainer. Except, is anyone really hiring? "Everybody's hiring," Manis claims (what do you expect him to say? He's a recruiter!). Manis says it would be very easy for a Merrill advisor with a "decent book" to get a new job, and he expects to see many of them do just that before the current retention offer expires November 14th.
