Archive

Edward Jones at a Glance Total client assets: $539 billion Number of advisors: 10,136 Average annualized revenue per advisor: $291,229 Pretax profit margin: 11.39% Motto: Making Sense of Investing Best Management move: (Finally) Developing a fee...

Merrill Lynch at a Glance: Total client assets: $1.8 trillion Number of advisors: 16,610 Average annualized revenue per advisor $794,702 Pretax profit margin: 26.0% Mascot: Bull Best management move: Acquiring First Republic Bank Worst management...

The third quarter was tough on all of the major brokerage firms as bets on mortgage derivatives came home to roost. According to an October 26 story in The New York Times, it got so hot at Merrill before the third-quarter earnings announcement...

It was a less than ideal situation. When Jeffrey Keefe left his job as a financial advisor with Ameriprise to start his own Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based firm two years ago, he decided he'd just stay put in the office he shared with several...

So far in this young century, the brokerage industry seems to have successfully endured its run down the gauntlet. Let's see, there was that embarrassing tech collapse, in which securities firms and asset managers sure did look, well, greedy and...

Registered Rep.: What was the scariest moment in your career? Geri Pell: Jumping off a 130-foot cliff on a zip-line at a leadership/change retreat. RR: The most triumphant? GP: Qualifying for the Chairman's Advisory Council at Ameriprise. RR: A...

Registered Rep. spoke with Greg Hopper about how the liquidity crisis has affected high-yield issues. RR: There has been a flight to safety, and the spreads between risky corporate debt and Treasury yields have widened. Do you expect this to...

Anyone but John Mack Purcell was on the high seas in the midst of a perfect storm, but he was still on board, and the Eight were tapping their feet in

Smith Barney at a Glance: Total client assets: $1.6 trillion Number of advisors: 14,873 Average annualized revenue per advisor: $768,000 Pretax profit margin: 24% Mascot: Red arch Worst management move: Messing with the payout grid Best management...

A group of Morgan Stanley reps involved in a race-discrimination suit are objecting to a proposed $16-million settlement, saying it's just not enough. The settlement amount was reached in October on behalf of 1,300 African-American and Hispanic...