CEO James Gorman, who worked at Merrill Lynch before joining Morgan Stanley in 2006, said that last year was the first time in decades he had not seen "net attrition," or a net loss, of advisers. "We're bringing in $20 billion every five weeks," Gorman said.
Net new households at the wirehouse in 2020 declined 37% year over year, the company reported Tuesday. The pandemic clearly hampered advisers' efforts to reel in new clients, a push at the firm since 2016.
Independent broker-dealers saw gains in recruiting coveted wirehouse advisers despite the massive disruptions caused by COVID-19. Firms are also building out registered investment advisory platforms to lure advisers.
2020 was the year that independent broker-dealers needed to rely on technology more than ever, with home-office staff and a large number of advisers working from home or in remote offices. What if criminals breach a broker-dealer's cyber wall?
Financial advisers are usually off-limits when it comes to large institutions looking to cut costs and personnel. But Wells Fargo, under CEO Charlie Scharf, has not shied away from laying off advisers or cutting adviser-lead businesses.
In a curious development to a strange, twisting tale, Butowsky, managing director of Chapwood Capital Investment Management, offered an apology to the brother of former DNC staffer Seth Rich on Twitter — then deleted the tweet.
The second half of fiscal 2020 was tough, the firm reported in its annual proxy statement; CEO Paul Reilly's total compensation fell almost 17% from the prior year and other top executives also saw their pay decline.
The companies that are temporarily halting or rethinking how they donate money to politicians via PACs, or political action committees, are some of the most prominent platforms for financial advisers and registered reps in the industry, including Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab Corp.
In the first week of the new year, eight significant deals involving advisory firms were announced and a total of $159.6 billion in assets changed hands. Among the buyers and sellers — including Hightower, Sageview Advisory Group and Aquiline Capital Partners — were some of the most significant names in the burgeoning RIA industry.
Advisers and analysts also cautioned investors and clients not to confuse ugly, divisive political action like riots with what’s happening in the broad stock market, which has been on a record run since March and the advent of COVID-19.
