Charles Schwab is making more cuts to the former TD Ameritrade leadership team amid its latest round of layoffs. The firm let go of around 50 employees, according to a source close to the company. The recent round includes Vanessa Oligino, director of business performance solutions at TD Ameritrade; Greg Menefee, director of institutional consulting and sales support and implementation at TD Ameritrade Institutional; and Scott Leak, director of institutional sales at TDAI.
Oligino and Menefee did not return requests for comment by press time. Leak declined to comment. The staff cuts come as Schwab continues to integrate TD Ameritrade following the $22 billion acquisition of its one-time rival.
“As we’ve shared previously, achieving our goals for the integration of TD Ameritrade requires difficult but necessary changes designed to create the strongest firm possible,” Schwab spokeswoman Mayura Hooper said in an emailed statement. “Today we took another step forward in that process by notifying a small number of our colleagues that their roles have been eliminated as part of integration-related reductions in duplicative roles or realignments of responsibilities across the two firms. We’re committed to providing transition support to everyone who is impacted, including re-employment assistance and severance benefits.”
Vanessa Oligino
Hooper said the layoffs did not impact front line service roles within Schwab Advisor Services or TD Ameritrade Institutional. In fact, she says, the firm is aggressively hiring in this area. “As in the past, employees whose roles are eliminated as part of the integration have early access through their 60-day notice period to all newly opened positions and are treated as internal candidates for those open positions,” she said.
Since Schwab closed on its acquisition of TD Ameritrade last October, many advisors have complained about subpar service levels. Schwab blamed the problems on an overwhelming influx of assets and said it was adding staff to fix the problem.
In March, Schwab updated advisors on its integration progress with TD, but the firm stopped short of committing to those advisors working with TD that the service teams they’re used to would look the same post-integration.
The latest layoffs follow other rounds of cuts in the integration process. In October, Schwab cut hundreds of employees, including former TD Ameritrade execs Kate Healy, managing director of Generation Next; Kristin Petrick, managing director of marketing and communications; Peter “Pete” Dorsey, managing director of institutional sales and advisor management; and Jim Dario, managing director of product management. Petrick has since joined Orion Advisor Solutions as chief marketing officer, and Dorsey recently joined RIA-focused custodial and technology platform Altruist as chief strategy and revenue officer.
In February, Schwab cut about 200 employees.
“We are approaching the integration of TD Ameritrade with great thoughtfulness and care, and we have made tremendous progress, including around managing expense synergies and achieving revenue synergies. As part of this effort, we expect to continue making periodic and targeted job eliminations as we move toward account conversion,” Hooper said.
