The Wall Street Journal reports that Merrill Lynch is said to be 'arming some managers with lists of top Morgan Stanley Wealth Management brokers who are considered ripe for defection'.
According to the newspaper, the Bank of America unit has been 'mapping' out staff it thinks may be open to a move, and has 'enlisted some of its 11 market executives...to call top-grossing Morgan Stanley brokers'.
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management chief, Greg Fleming, concluded a seven-city tour of the firm’s brokerage offices last month in an attempt to stem a broker revolt over the company’s new technology system that contains so many glitches that brokers often cannot sign-up new clients. Since then, Morgan Stanley has put in the first of three major fixes.
In the meantime, Reuters reports that a top Morgan Stanley broker who last year managed about $2bn in client assets left the company's brokerage division last week to join J.P. Morgan Securities.
Adviser Jonathan Madrigano, who worked out of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's Midtown Manhattan office, generated annual revenue of between $8m and $10m, according to sources with knowledge of the move.
Finally, Bloomberg reports that Bank of America's Merrill Lynch unit must defend against a race-discrimination lawsuit on behalf of 700 black financial advisers, as the U.S. Supreme Court turned away a company appeal.
The justices have left intact a federal appeals court ruling that let the case go forward as a class action. The suing workers say that they are paid less than their white counterparts and that Merrill’s policies are to blame. Bank of America acquired Merrill in 2009, after the suit was filed.
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