Wells Fargo Kills Broker Bonuses for Loan ProductsDecember 16, 2016Wells Fargo will stop paying bonuses to brokers selling banking products following a scandal over the opening of up to two million fake bank accounts at the firm, the Wall Street Journal reports.The company’s brokers will no longer receive bonuses for pushing brokerage clients to take on consumer lines of credit such as securities-backed loans, Erik Karanik, a managing director at Wells Fargo Advisors, Wells Fargo’s brokerage arm, tells the Journal. But broker pay grids will remain the same next year, she says. However, the bank raised the minimum account size for brokers to receive full compensation from $65,000 to $100,000, the paper writes.

Source: Financial Advisor IQ – Wells Fargo Kills Broker Bonuses for Loan Products

Ouch. In yet another example of small cuts that can add up to big dollars for brokerage firms, Merrill Lynch…Read More

Source: Merrill Trims Brokers’ Ability to Waive Customer Fees – AdvisorHub

1. A more profitable and adaptable payout model. Advisers at the full-service firms often complain about how their payouts can change and production targets can be adjusted. However, that flexibility allows their firms to weather transitions in a rapidly evolving landscape. LPL and their ilk, with their 90% payouts and independent contractors, simply cannot pivot rapidly enough. If advisers’ revenue drops because of the loss of commissions, one firm can change payout structure, the other takes a direct hit to their bottom line.

Source: The DOL rule kicks in. Will independent broker-dealers survive?

The largest of Stifel’s new hires comes from Oppenheimer. The team, known as PearlStreet Investment Management, opened a new office for Stifel in Ada, Mich., a suburb of Grand Rapids. They manage more than $600 million in fee-based client assets and also have an institutional retirement plan practice that is responsible for more than $5 billion in retirement plan assets, of which $3.3 billion was custodied at the firm, according to Stifel.

Source: $3.9B team joins Stifel | On Wall Street

“We could see more insurance broker/dealers go by the wayside, while those companies really concentrate on their core competency in manufacturing those policies and annuities,” said Bill Butterfield, senior analyst of the wealth management team at Aite Group.

Source: Does the MetLife Deal Signal the End of the Insurance Agent?

Team members Steve Saylor, Matt Moreman, Jason Heaton, Kathi Law and Preston Saylor joined the employee side at Raymond James in The Villages, Fla., a retirement community about 60 miles north of Orlando. They will operate as Saylor Moreman Heaton Wealth Management.

Source: $2.7M Team Leaves Merrill Lynch for Raymond James | IAG Breaking News

Raymond James hired four advisors who managed nearly $400 million in combined client assets, the firm said.The new hires, who left Wells Fargo and Davenport & Company, joined Raymond James in two offices in Raleigh and Smithfield, N.C.The advisors had over $2 million in annual fees and commissions, according to Raymond James.

Source: Raymond James Hires $2M Team | IAG Breaking News

Under the new rule, firms onboarding clients of a recently recruited advisor must disclose to investors whether the recruitment bonus or other compensation received by the advisor creates a conflict of interest. Further, the information must also outline any costs associated with transferring client accounts to the new firm and the potential differences in products and services offered at the new b/d.

Source: FINRA Seeks to Mitigate Broker Recruitment Conflicts