Talk Back

 An adviser in Massachusetts responds to Corrie Driebusch’s column “BROKER’S WORLD: BofA Making Big Push to Build Up Merrill Edge”:

After 40 years in the brokerage industry, I still serve Mr. & Mrs. America by opening accounts for people with less than $250,000, even as low as $5,000, and I constantly call them with updates, comments, and buy and/or sell recommendations. My accounts are long-term holders, not players, people who want to work with the same adviser.

Additionally, I have a personal relationship with my clients and their families, something companies like Merrill are avoiding when they have their clients call a “call center” and talk to someone who has no idea about the clients’ family situation, much less their financial situation.

(TALK BACK comments may well be submitted by readers who have a financial interest in securities that are being discussed.)

Here is the original item: Continue reading…

By Annie Gasparro 
    A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–The steady, if sometimes exaggerated, trend of wirehouse advisers shifting to independent brokerages is proving to be more than just a passing fad.

The independent channel took in about 90 advisers from the four major wirehouses last month, while those wirehouses only hired 25 brokers from independents, according to research firm Discovery’s report on registered representative movement for January.

The four wirehouses are Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Bank of America Corp.’s (BAC) Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Advisors, and UBS Wealth Management U.S. Their biggest indie competitors lately: LPL Financial Corp., Ameriprise Financial Services and Raymond James Financial Services. Continue reading…