Rob Blevins This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Bank Investment Consultant

   www.bankinvestmentmktg.com/cgi - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/1/2004   Last Visited: 5/26/2005

   Rob Blevins: Over time, many banks have caught up with wirehouses and regional firms in terms of compensation packages, technology and products and services.
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   Blevins: The truth is, it's not often that a big producer from Merrill Lynch goes to a community bank.
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   Blevins: Actually, Wachovia's broker division is run out of Richmond, Va., by folks who have a regional brokerage background and mentality.
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   Blevins: A platform system can be attractive if a few factors come into play.
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   Blevins: If you look at most bank brokerages, they are trying to recruit a big producer that's doing $400,000 at Merrill Lynch. And if they can show him, hey, there are two platform people in this branch that each did $150,000 on their own, then that's $300,000 already in the branch. If the producer brings over what he's got, that's a total of $700,000 in production.
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   Blevins: When you look at a bank brokerage program, the kind of person that fits well into those banking centers is somebody who's a team player but who also is aggressively looking to grow his business.
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   Blevins: Newer brokers are being pushed to do fee-based business; managed money is being driven into their minds as being best for everybody. Even brokers who have been in the business for 10 or 15 years are becoming more diversified.
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   Blevins: I've seen brokers land some of the biggest accounts they've ever heard of with a pad of paper and a pencil. Technology's great, but when it comes to sitting with a client and looking at what he or she needs and wants and putting together a quality investment approach, the technology's not going to do you a bit of good.
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   Blevins: Five years ago, the banks didn't have what they have now. They've caught up with wirehouses in terms of capabilities, so now if a wirehouse broker is doing $500,000 and he's unhappy with the way things are going, he can go to a bank, have the same payout and get help growing his business.