Merrill Lynch Speeds Up Team Placement for Trainees
Bank of America Merrill Lynch will allow consultant trainees in the firm’s development program to join existing consulting teams sooner, one of a series of improvements Merrill is making to its trainee program.
According to head of customer service John Towey (who leads the trainee program), the four adjustments were based on feedback from trainees, consultants and market leadership and “build on what’s already working.”
“Team-based practices are increasingly shaping how advisors serve clients and build sustainable businesses,” Towey said on the firm’s wealth-focused earnings call Tuesday. And we help established teams contribute quickly while supporting succession planning by allowing trainees to join them early.
According to Towey, the apprentice program is currently training approximately 2,400 employees, with nearly three-quarters completing (30% more than the industry’s historical success rate).
Merrill reworked aspects of the program in 2021. (Including a ban on cold calling, which was expanded to include all Merrill business and a reduction in the length of the program to 18 months). According to Towey, the trainees manage an average of $64 million in client assets by the time they graduate.
In addition to allowing trainees to quickly join consulting teams, Merrill provides early access to the full suite of products by providing training on how to get the most out of the organization’s platform. The wirehouse also provides additional business development support for interns, and Towey argues that interns are well-positioned to help more clients.
Finally, the firm is creating a new “Advisor Development Program Client Associate role,” providing an additional entry point for interns to begin their careers supporting the Merrill office and its advisors, which Towey said “previously provided for client service, practice management and day-to-day operations of the advisory business.”
The company’s wealth division reported approximately 5,400 new relationships with clients with assets of more than $500,000 each in the second quarter (up approximately 11% year-over-year). While the firm didn’t break down where those households came from (hired advisors, trainees or existing advisors), “everything contributes,” said Merrill Wealth co-head Lindsay Hance.
“When you look at our build and our hiring, and especially when you look at it over the last two years and the hiring that we’ve had in the last quarter, our pipeline coming in the next three months is the strongest we’ve seen here,” she said.
According to Eric Schimpf, co-head of Hans & Merrill Wealth, Merrill Wealth’s second-quarter revenue was $5.7 billion, a 16 percent jump year-over-year due to higher asset management fees, loans and net interest income.
The firm hit $4.1 trillion in client accounts (up 12 percent year-over-year), while assets under management reached a record $1.8 trillion in the second quarter, up 18 percent year-over-year. In the year By 2026, the firm said it sees nearly $20 billion in brokerage assets moving into Merrill’s investment advisory program.
