MSSB laying off 300 advisers

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, the largest brokerage in the United States, will lay off between 200 to 300 adviser trainees and low volume producers in the firm's advisory force by the end of the month, according to a Dow Jones story filed this afternoon. Another source from Morgan Stanley confirmed the story, but added that the culling of weaker producers and trainees has been going on since the beginning of the year. The source also confirmed that the general guidelines for the lay-offs are the following: trainees at the firm for between 6 to 36 months with less than $25,000 in annual production, and advisers with five years experience in the industry and at least one year at the firm with annual production of less than $75,000. The guidelines are not hard and fast, according to the source, with those advisers and trainees showing potential given extra consideration. The departure of weaker producers will improve the overall productivity of the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney adviser force. Average revenue per adviser stood at $742,000 on Dec. 31, 2010, according to the firm's fourth quarter earnings supplement. That compares with the average Bank of America Merrill Lynch adviser production of $854,000 last year. Morgan Stanley hired on 2000 trainees last year, and ended 2010 with an total adviser force of just over 18,100.