[quote=Broker010]Joe, Excuse my faux pas. Again, however, my retort is that this post is entitled AGE_Inside_Information. Those endeavoring to find said information aren't currently interested, in this venue at least, in someone "seriously plugged-in and the real deal", not pertaining to or specifically related to "the real deal" aforementioned.
[/quote]

Translation:  Take a hike Joe.

[quote=joedabrkr] [quote=Broker010]Ymh, You'd think you'd have realized by now that this post is for those "with a dog in this hunt". No one cares with whom you are not, nor whether you have or are a dog of any kind. [/quote]

Dude-  If you google YMH's email address or "Yolanda Holtzee" you'll see that she is making said disclosure because she runs some serious dollars and wants people to know that she isn't trying to influence the market for anything she trades.

Yolanda is a long time poster here, and is seriously plugged-in and the real deal, IMHO.
[/quote]

I think the word you were looking for is "GADFLY"

[quote=Broker010]Obviously, Inside_Info is full if S%*t. The #5 producer in the company is a BM of our former parent branch office, 5 miles from mine. My BM is a President's Council member and a good friend of mine. They have had no offer.  [/quote]

Just to beat a dead horse, I'm a BOM and Chairman's producer...no offer.  I haven't spoken to a BOM in the system who's had one, and if it had happened news would spread.

If you want to guarantee a mass exodus give the BOM's info on their deal before your producers....that would be bright, wouldn't it? 

For the naive AGE brokers here (rookies in the biz), WB probably learned their lesson on the PRUSec "merger of equals" with respect to NOT courting the BM's.

PRUSec had a policy which precluded BM's from managing a book. Some got around this by having the assistant BM or a pal manage their book "on paper." WB, for some reason (probably that one) did not "court" the BM's. They knew they would consolidate many of the branch offices so their rationale was "why attempt to retain BM's with no books when we'll have to put some of them out the door eventually anyway."

Well, that backfired on them because the head of private client at PRUSec bailed for a competitor then unleashed an army of headhunters to recruit BM's. The BM's jumped ship, then they cherry picked their PRUducers (1st quintile types) to jump ship, too.

I am amazed by the number of AGE brokers who post here who are not aware of how history often repeats itself over and over again. I surmise the ones who don't understand are rookies in the biz (under 5 years).

It makes $en$e (cents) that WB is courting your BM's. Your BM's manage books (in some cases big ones). The stakes are much higher retaining your BM's.

FD: the same disclaimers as last time

For those of you considering going independent, the November 2006 issue of Registered Rep may be of interest to you.

[quote=CutterJon]

[quote=Broker010]Obviously, Inside_Info is full if S%

*t. The #5 producer in the company is a BM of our former parent branch

office, 5 miles from mine. My BM is a President’s Council member and a

good friend of mine. They have had no offer. [/quote]

Just to beat a dead horse, I’m a BOM and Chairman’s producer…no offer. I

haven’t spoken to a BOM in the system who’s had one, and if it had

happened news would spread.

If you want to guarantee a mass exodus give the BOM’s info on their deal

before your producers…that would be bright, wouldn’t it?

yhm, If you think WB will repeat the disaster of the Pru deal, then it is you who are (painfully) naive. You may want to spend your time elsewhere rather than troll a site specifically intended for AGE brokers instead of staying here entering stupid, useless posts intended to insult AGE brokers. Not only do you NOT have any information for those who seek inside AGE information, but yoru preaching has gotten old. You may go now.

Yolanda - or Yolanda. M. Holzee (ymh ymh ymh)…



I have decided not to respond to you privately and give you juicier bits,

because you outed yourself as an industry watchdog/whistleblower.

RegisteredRep wrote an article about you in December wanting to be SEC

Chairman. Exposing your identity isn’t too bright. People w/ political

aspirations get to know real people NOT other Internet trolls (haha).



Where I do know Yolanda Holzee has true insight is that she had an army

background and clearly understands the dynamics of power and herd

mentality. This is mainly a response to Yolanda, but to all else, I know

ONE BM who has verbally been given a very substantial offer because ML

has been on his ass for almost a year, and they are going to likely have to

match that. YMH is exactly right w/ the rationale for taking care of the

top first. Retention grids are irrelavant at this point, 010. Mothing set in

stone, and they are being very careful in how they present this. We are

not socialists, and I already have prrof that one BM is being given extra

incentives to stay.



Whoever said that AGE is the only firm that is a bastion for laziness or

something like that is right. They have to take care of BMs and top dogs

first to determine what they are willing to offer to keep all the $150-

$250K producers. BMs at AGE have A LOT of sway. They are like kings

with their $1M books, overrides, bonuses. AGE HQ realizes that if BMs

stay, a lot of mid-level producers will stay. Just read all of Broker010’s

claims that he’s so tight w/ his BMs. His BMs would stab him in the back

in a minute. He’s naive. Everyone at AGE thinks they are golden if they are

in good with a BM…



I never intended to claim to have ALL the inside info. or a contant feed to

new stuff, just to get a forum of Inside Info. going. Of course, it’s turned

into a lot of speculation…that’s only to be expected.



Half the stuff I know, I don’t even want to say publicly in the forums.

Many of my AGE feeds that are newer to the biz have interviews lined up

with other major wirehouses. I don’t care who you are, you are very in

demand right now with a 7/insurance/66. Headhunters are even calling

the little guys I know many times a day. It is a big risk for a firm to pay

someone to study, when only about 64 percent of brokers pass the first

time. No one wants to sign a contract and take a risk on someone

unlicensed if they do not have to.



Also, a lot of the big Indy bds now pay up front money for $125k gross

and above. This is a fact, but I think some of the jerks on this site don’t

deserve to get even $30K up front to open their own Indy shop. I’d rather

see them lock themselves into 6 year contracts and have their pay slashed

in 2008. As per claims that I want to use other firms’ chaos to build my

book. This business is about relationships, not bad mouthing the

competition. The news speaks for itself.



For the last time, I started this thread as an open forum for Inside

Information. Any body can post theirs…

Yolanda - or Yolanda. M. Holzee (ymh ymh ymh)…



I have decided not to respond to you privately and give you juicier bits,

because you outed yourself as an industry watchdog/whistleblower.

RegisteredRep wrote an article about you in December wanting to be SEC

Chairman. Exposing your identity isn’t too bright. People w/ political

aspirations get to know real people NOT other Internet trolls (haha).



Where I do know Yolanda Holzee has true insight is that she has an army

background and clearly understands the dynamics of power and herd

mentality. This is mainly a response to Yolanda, but to all else, I know

ONE BM who has verbally been given a very substantial offer because ML

has been on his ass for almost a year, and they are going to likely have to

match that. YMH is exactly right w/ the rationale for taking care of the

top first. Retention grids are irrelavant at this point, 010. Nothing set in

stone, and they are being very careful in how they present this. We are

not socialists, and I already have prrof that one BM is being given extra

incentives to stay.



Whoever said that AGE is the only firm that is a bastion for laziness or

something like that is right. They have to take care of BMs and top dogs

first to determine what they are willing to offer to keep all the $150-

$250K producers. BMs at AGE have A LOT of sway. They are like kings

with their $1M books, overrides, bonuses. AGE HQ realizes that if BMs

stay, a lot of mid-level producers will stay. Just read all of Broker010’s

claims that he’s so tight w/ his BMs. His BMs would stab him in the back

in a minute. He’s naive. Everyone at AGE thinks they are golden if they are

in good with a BM…



I never intended to claim to have ALL the inside info. or a contant feed to

new stuff, just to get a forum of Inside Info. going. Of course, it’s turned

into a lot of speculation…that’s only to be expected.



Half the stuff I know, I don’t even want to say publicly in the forums.

Many of my AGE feeds that are newer to the biz have interviews lined up

with other major wirehouses. I don’t care who you are, you are very in

demand right now with a 7/insurance/66. Headhunters are even calling

the little guys I know many times a day. It is a big risk for a firm to pay

someone to study, when only about 64 percent of brokers pass the first

time. No one wants to sign a contract and take a risk on someone

unlicensed if they do not have to.



Also, a lot of the big Indy bds now pay up front money for almost anyone.

This is a fact, but I think some of the jerks on this site don’t deserve to

get even $30K up front to open their own Indy shop. I’d rather see them

lock themselves into 6 year contracts and have their pay slashed in 2008.

As per claims that I want to use other firms’ chaos to build my book. This

business is about relationships, not bad mouthing the competition. The

news speaks for itself.



For the last time, I started this thread as an open forum for Inside

Information. Any body can post theirs…Busy week ahead; think I’ll just sit

one out (FB and 010 can rejoice).

“Retention grids are irrelavant at this point, 010” - Inside_Info

 Inside, thanks, but I’ll decide what’s relevant at this and every other point. I’m not the one going by the handle AGE_Inside_Information. As to not wanting to post half of what you know, this is a mathematical impossibility, it’s impossible to divide any number by zero. It’s astonishing that you can type for what must have been an hour and say abosolutely nothing. Wow!

AGE_Inside_Info:

There's a T in Holtzee, but that's okay and my "intent" as stated in responding to your posts as well as a few other posters is to make everyone aware it's indeed a "dog eat dog" world out there and when firms merge/acquire one another, often times somebody gets more than his/her fair share and others get crumbs.

I expect this acquisition will be no different. The headhunters are salivating and some have already posted here to offer their help. I advise AGE brokers to listen, look, but not leap too fast as the first offer may not be the best one.

Overall this forum can be very helpful, especially to rookies (persons with 5 years or less experience in the financial services sector).

Thanks, AGE_Inside_Info, for reminding me to clean out my in-box.

Yolanda, I just read your bio. I am having trouble understanding what you’re looking to add to/take from this thread. If you’re looking for AGE inside info., I’d think you’d take a more passive role (I.E. not actively posting). You certainly have nothing to add on the topic and have asserted that you have “no dog in the fight”. Maybe you should spend this time going after Index-Linked annuity pushers or proprietary funds that have 2.5% expense ratios and under perform the market by 50%, for example.

Like I said initially, my "intent" is to assure AGE brokers are aware that history often repeats itself. I believe WB has learned from the mistakes made with previous mergers/acquisitions (particularly the PRUSec one). Quite a bit can be learned from that one for everyone.

I was not soliciting ANY information from AGE_Inside_Info. I passed along some information to him/her which is pertinent to this deal, too.

I have no interest in soliciting any AGE broker to jump ship or to stay for that matter. That applies to all brokers who post here. I am not a headhunter.

Best wishes to all brokers and their clients, including the AGE ones (including you).

Thanks for the best wishes. Go Badgers!

Some new articles today about the AGE-WB deal with possibly a little "new" information in Investment News.

One's by Bruce Kelly who followed the WB-PRUSec merger very closely and the other is by Kathy O'Donnell who followed the PRUsec mutual market timing mess very closely while at the Boston Globe.

Also, there's an AGE-WB article in the Charlotte Business Journal today. It's written by Will Boye who was with Wall Street Letter during the "merger" of Wachovia Securities and PRUSec.

This article is available only to paid subscribers but it again states WB has concerns with respect to retention of AGE brokers.