Wachovia Alters Production PayoutWachovia Alters Production Payout

David A. Gaffen

Wachovia Securities has altered its monthly production bonus payout for 2003, moving up the monthly production level needed in order for brokers to avoid being penalized for monthly payouts.

Previously, brokers received what is known as "grid," or a particular percentage payout, for production between $17,000 and $18,999 during a month. Levels higher than that resulted in a bonus, all the way up to brokers doing $65,000 or more in production a month, which previously received a 7 percent bonus.

Now, the starting gate has been changed. If you’re doing between $17,000 and $18,999 in monthly production at Wachovia, your payout will be cut by 3 percent. The new threshold to avoid incurring a penalty is $19,000; brokers doing more than $75,000 a month in production receive the highest bonus of 7 percent.

A Wachovia spokesperson confirmed that changes to the compensation plan had taken place, but would not comment on specifics, saying only that the changes are in line with what has been happening in the industry. The firm also said it has recently revamped its signing bonuses, offering more lucrative deals than it had in the past, but also did not give specifics.

The Richmond, Va.-based company also made minor changes to the payout for packaged products; packaged product sales of less than $3,000 now pay 36 percent; previously, the threshold was $2,750.