Wirehouse metrics reflect different strategies

Head count ticked to a new low for Morgan Stanley, although the firm's CEO, James Gorman, told analysts on a conference call that he is comfortable with the scale. Merrill Lynch, meanwhile, has added to recent gains, which it attributes to recruiting wins and some payoffs from updates it made to its training program. Wells Fargo reported a slight increase after losing some people. UBS continued to tick down, but executives said that 60% of the departures were low producers. Assets per adviser has grown consistently and generally mirrors adviser productivity. It was somewhat flat from the first quarter as AUM overall remained mostly flat. “In the land of the wirehouses, the game has become assembling a collection of top producers,” says Alois Pirker, a research director in the wealth management consulting division at Aite Group. UBS pulled farther ahead of Merrill Lynch as it reported it was generating more revenue despite fewer advisers. Merrill's declines have come almost concurrently with its turnaround in headcount. Bank of America Merrill Lynch CEO Brian Moynihan said it was taking time for trainees and new hires to build their business. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley has come from behind to nearly overtake Wells Fargo. Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch remain neck-and-neck on assets under management. Both are growing at a relatively equal pace. Overall, AUM was relatively unchanged at most firms from the first quarter, a fact that executives attributed to weak market performance.