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Talk on the street is that they do not and that down the pipeline, they just as soon let that part of their business go.

When BofA bought Merrill, they tallied 2.500 FA’s; since then 1,000 have left with prediction by some that as many as half of the BofA financial advisors still there will quit within the next 12 months…discontent with the new fee based “managed account” structure and the call centers to service accounts under $250,000 are cited as major roadblocks to retention.

Granted, Merrill brought their sophisticated analytical tools and technology to boost BofA’s outdated and “behind the times” operation, but still clients could always sit down and talk to an advisor regardless of how much in assets they had. It doesn’t appear that Merrill really cares either; they want the accounts, not the brokers.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the coming months; we’ve seen and spoken to some very discontent Merrill brokers along with the breakaways from BofA. As recruiters, we’re definitely hearing from more and more financial advisors looking to go independent or join the ranks of the growing RIA’s.