Morgan Keegan producers heading to St. Pete to talk retention

The top producing financial advisers at Morgan Keegan are heading to Raymond James headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla., Monday to discuss their retention deals with their new firm. “A group of advisers is coming Monday and subsequent groups will follow after them,” said Raymond James Financial Inc. spokeswoman Anthea Penrose. “We're replicating what we did with the branch managers last week.” Branch managers from Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. got a tour of the Raymond James headquarters last week and discussed the merger with executives. When Raymond James on Jan. 12 announced it would acquire Memphis, Tenn.-based Morgan Keegan with its nearly 1,100 advisers, it earmarked $215 million for retention of the firm's advisers and managers. According to a recruiter, the top 15 producers in the firm will get the details of their deals Monday. That recruiter, who received information from a Morgan Keegan manager, said the deals for top producers may fall short of expectations. He said that according to his source, advisers producing more than $1 million in fees and commissions will receive 70% of their trailing-12-month production. The retention payouts to the rest of the adviser ranks are the following, according to the recruiter's source: 50% for producers between $500,000 and $1 million in revenue, 40% for those between $400,000 and $500,000, and 30% for those between $300,000 and $400,000. The payments will be structured as a seven-year forgivable note. Advisers producing less than $300,000 will not be offered retention money. Ms. Penrose could not confirm the figures, however. The specific deals for each adviser will likely vary depending on whether they already have notes in place. Morgan Keegan had approximately $200 million in retention money already in place prior to the deal with Raymond James. There are also details about restricted cash and other compensation arrangements that could affect the offers.