McCann rolls out enhanced pay plan at UBS

Robert McCann is rewarding the veteran brokers who have stayed with UBS Financial Services Inc. through the past two years. The new enhanced compensation plan rewards brokers and advisers who have been with the firm for five years or more and produce at least $500,000 in sales. The advisers, who will receive the bonus in 2011, can get paid up to 65% of their annual production. The scale varies, and the highest rewards go to the biggest producing brokers. Mr. McCann, the former president of global wealth management of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., took over as head of UBS AG’s Wealth Management Americas group in October. Not only have UBS’ 7,200 advisers experienced the stock market collapse, like the rest of the industry, they have seen their parent company investigated by the federal government for helping U.S. taxpayers hide their accounts. The new program, which UBS is not calling a retention plan, is called Growth Plus. The plan “is an enhancement to our existing [financial adviser] compensation plan that is designed to allow [advisers] to participate and share in the future of our firm in two ways,” said Kris Kagel, a UBS spokesman. “Participation is based on prospective 12-month — not trailing 12-month — production. Secondly, Growth Plus recognizes long-term dedication to the firm.” The plan was first reported yesterday by the Financial Times. Mary Schapiro, chairman of the SEC, took aim in August at brokerage executives and how they structured compensation packages for some recruits. The first half of the year was a particularly intense time for recruiting brokers. “Some types of enhanced compensation practices may lead registered representatives to believe that they must sell securities at a sufficiently high level to justify special arrangements that they have been given,” Ms. Schapiro wrote in an open letter to brokerage executives. Mr. Kagel said UBS would not comment about Ms. Schapiro’s letter.