Great.  Good for Tad.   Wachoviawells is a terrible firms.  It’s just a matter of time before Tad starts picking off the last few quality home-office folks.

We are glad to have them. Good producers, great people.

AGEMAN…you only pay if you buy ownership. BFE will give you a modest

upfront tfr package. Most advisors are using that to take care of handcuffs and or buy some ownership.

I have heard you actually have to pay into the firm to join.

Isn’t Tad the reason why AGE was sold, he wasn’t capable of handling it??

AGEMAN…they offer 30% t12 upfront or 80% payout month 3-14 I believe. Concerning Tad…that was 10 yrs when the board got behind Bagby. Given what has since happen I bet a whole lot of employees would have rather seen Tad from the start. Eitherway you have to credit Tad with taking the handoff and running with things. The advisors that are jumping to BFE seem to all be 600k to 2mm in production. Im not at that shop but the folks Ive talked to are quite happy. Tad has probably grown some in ability over the last 10-12 yrs.



Shania…Ben Edwards ran the firm till 2001 and retired. Tad is Ben’s son. Ben passed away about about a yr ago.

Tad is very capable to run the firm - especially with the many good people he has surrounded himself with.  The AGE board made a very dumb decision believing that bagby would be a safer short term pick as a transition to Tad.

If Tad follows what his dad and A.G.Edwards did  B G  Edwards will be a firm worthy of the Edwards name.

Ben surroundedv himself with the best people and council  (save one traitor a cousin more interested in filling his pockets than following the the comany's ideal of CLIENT FIRST and remembering the CLIENT First philosophy  Edwards will once again regain it's position.

Len

 Would have to agree with you on that leapinlen.  Hear they are likely to add 15-18 additional branches this yr. Thats a  phenomenal pace considering you have to locate real estate and start a location from scratch.

I would guess they will have the ability to add fa's to existing offices too once they get a few more locations going. I think a lot of people are cheering for them.   

[quote=Picklejuice]Great.  Good for Tad.   Wachoviawells is a terrible firms.  It's just a matter of time before Tad starts picking off the last few quality home-office folks.[/quote]

I have only known AGE, but WFA is NOT a terrible firm.  Now, it is light years away from AGE, but that is just how good we had it.  But let's not forget AGE's troubles; MARS....Enough said.  AGE was talking production hurdles prior to the merge.   Declining home office service,-When we had early retirement packages in the home office our service standards plunged and we were working hard at improving them, but the talent was thin.  12b1's in our advisory products.  How about the 1,000,000 FDIC insured bank product.  Think we would have had problems with that in 2008?  That alone, along with MARS could have sunk us.  Oh,ya, that whole stagnant stock price thing...

AGE was a great firm and I am not happy at WFA, but it seems to be the best option right now.  However, I am watching Tad closely.  If he becomes half the man his Dad was, and the firm grows and improves its talent, then me and my $1M team will be looking to move.

Questions for now... How is the advisory platform?  Open?  Using non-loaded funds and institutional shares?  How is the selection of managers going and the handling of the asset allocation?  How about SMA's?  Who is handling that due diligence process?  How is the alternative strategies platform?  Managed Futures, hedge funds, etc?  How about the work station?  Is there an Envision like process?  What clearing platform is the firm using? How about check writing, etc... I will admit, the WFA bank products are insulating my clients from competitors, even if they view me as investments first.

Is there someone at the firm to talk too...last time I was on the site, it was pretty thin...  We owe money, is there a way around that?  I'm willing to walk from the deferred comp, but not going to take a loan to pay off what I spent.  Yes, I spent it <<<<FOOL!

Guys, I'm pulling for the firm...BIG TIME!  I always knew I would retire at AGE.  I doubt I will be at WFA much longer...

One word answer: FiNet

I have heard that Stifel is the new "old" AGE...

 I would rather be at the new Edwards than Stifel.  Better culture and I like the idea of getting some ownership on the ground floor.  Stifel isnt bad the the technology on the pershing platform is light yrs ahead of Stifel and Ive heard they have better technology than WFA apl system for pim managers.  They seem to be adding a branch every month and I hear a bunch more are coming soon.   Those who remain at WFA are likely to lose their books to the bank before long.  Its time to consider a move.

The best people .

The FC's are very good at what they do

The  not They

ran across this on the Wells site written by bankstink.   Ive not see a better assesment of the universal bank model summed up more accurately than the follosing.  The last two sentences are right on.  If you remain the bank will own you.

Many advisors at WFC and Bac like to believe that cross selling is optional and  they can still resist. But it isn't optional for the branch manager, the complex manager and the regional manager, they have goals that directly impact their compensation. If they have goals, then over time the advisor will have goals directly or inderectly. Can you imagine David Carol telling Stumpf "sorry John my boys won't buy into it so you can just forget it." I don't think so. The end result of cross selling is to divorce the client from the advisor and tie them to the institution. Any other rationale is just wishful thinking.

Any updates that the Ben Edwards poeple can fill in?

Enough time has gone by and me and my team are still not happy here.  My questiosn above.  I would love to see answers.  Thanks much...I'll be in touch soon...