The new chairman and CEO of A.G. Edwards says an acquisition might be in the cards. “I want to make acquisitions if I find [targets] that are culturally acceptable to our current model,” Robert Bagby told...
Jeff Peek, president of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), said Tuesday that the division “lost contact” with the firm’s retail brokers in the 1990s, and has “completely turned that...
In 1994, John Schneider decided to sneak away from the office for an afternoon of fly-fishing at nearby Beaver Creek, Pa. In order to justify the workday field trip, he invited along a few clients. The getaway was...
A certain type of person welcomes the idea of a steady paycheck. Banks, discounters and some broker teams offer salaried positions for those who want to escape the production grind. Banks are not a safe haven for low...
Merrill Lynch is reorganizing its retail sales force into three distinct categories: Financial Advisors, for those serving investors with less than $1 million (the old Financial Consultant title will be phased out)...
If you're looking for fundamental information on the financial planning profession, Jeffrey Rattiner's Getting Started as a Financial Planner is definitely worthwhile reading. Formerly an executive with the Institute...
Merrill Lynch is no longer rewarding brokers for customer activity in its Visa Signature Rewards program. Reps previously received points based on how much money their clients spent, according to brokers. But...
Darren Gray's branch manager walked up to him one afternoon in 1998, tapped him on the shoulder and asked a question that made him cringe. How would you like to be the branch's mutual fund coordinator? he asked. Gray...
First Union Securities is putting its new-broker-training effort on hold for the rest of the year. Broker productivity numbers at First Union showed some improvement in 2000, and management wants those numbers to...
Do you know what happens if you give a pig a pancake? Andrea Nicolopoulos does. The mother of four and broker with First Union Securities in Oak Brook, Ill., is in the know because she's read When You Give a Pig a...
